More than friends
by Stelena2018
Summary: AU/AH. Elena finds herself falling for Stefan Salvatore, who is not only the guy she loves to hate but is also Whitmore Colleges most notorious womaniser. But is there more to him than the football player who has every girl wrapped around his little finger? Can Elena be the one to uncover the person he truly is? Can Stefan and Elena be more than just friends? STELENA.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Hi, to anyone reading this is my first fanfic so would appreciate any support/critique. This story is AU/AH and based on Stefan and Elena. Basically, Stefan and Elena are at college in the same friendship group with Nik, Caroline, Bonnie and Matt. However, Stefan and Elena don't particularly get on as Stefan loves to tease and Elena, and Elena can't stand the way he acts like an arrogant asshole. Despite their constant arguments, Stefan and Elena both feel an underlying attraction to each other that is bound to slowly unravel. Their love story will develop slowly but STELENA ENDGAME is guaranteed! Hope you enjoy!**

{Elena's POV}

"Will you just choose a movie already? And before you ask, no we are not watching the Notebook again." I whined as Nik and Caroline ignored their surroundings in their cringey bubble of love. Caroline invited me to her apartment for a movie night, which of course included Klaus as he practically lives in Caroline's bedroom anyway.

"Oh, come on Elena we all know that under your cold façade you're really a hopeless romantic at heart" Caroline teased as I shot her a piercing glare. Laughing at their interaction, Nik suggested that we should just watch a comedy to please everyone.

"Fine we'll watch a comedy as long as I get a whole bag of popcorn" I stated. Rolling their eyes, they agreed to my demand. The Hangover was the selected movie, which no one could complain about as everyone knew how hilarious it is.

Nik and Caroline curled up closer to each other on the couch whilst I spread across my own couch trying to get comfortable. Although I act like Nik and Caroline and every other successful love story make me want to throw up, I am secretly jealous. Just like every girl, I long for someone to fall asleep and wake up next to, I long for a best friend and lover I can trust with all my secrets and just as importantly I long for someone who could warm my heart with just a smile but also make me moan and writhe in the bedroom. Hey, I'm a girl and I have needs.

Just as the movie was about to start, there was a loud thump at the door. I glared at the door in annoyance as Stefan came strolling in with that stupid smirk on his face.

"Watching a movie without me? I've never felt so betrayed" gasped Stefan, pretending to be upset. God he's so annoying.

"Yeah well last I saw you were still laying your sleazy pick up lines on that waitress at the Grill" I spat at Stefan as I narrowed my eyes. I swear he lives to annoy me. Earlier on we were all at the Grill, when this dumb blonde waitress started trailing her fingers over Stefan's arm whilst taking his order and for some reason I don't why it pissed me off. Of course, Stefan being the womaniser he is returned her affections, adding to my anger. Trust me, I'm not jealous. Am I? No, no, no, seriously I'm not. I internally decided the reason why I got angry at him is because of the way he treats girls. I lied to myself but shrugged it off as I was pulled out of my thoughts by his voice.

"Ouch Gilbert. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're jealous" Stefan mused sending his signature smirk my way.

"Well it's a good thing your stupid then because I'm not jealous. Are you gonna sit and watch this movie or not?". Lying to myself again I snapped at him, making him, Caroline and Nik chuckle at my response.

Answering my question, Stefan waltzed over to the couch where I was sat and lifted my legs, as he sat down he placed my legs back down on his lap. For some unexplainable reason, when Stefan simply just touched my legs, I felt this surge of electricity invade every inch of my body and it left me wanting more. Whilst his attention was focused on the screen, I kept on stealing glances. Although I would never admit it to anyone else, damn he looked good. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt which hugged his muscled arms and torso, black skinny jeans that hung devilishly low on his hips and his trademark black and white vans. Not only that, I swear he was designed by angels to be a Greek god. He had a defined jaw line, a beautifully crooked smile and these gorgeous emerald eyes I would love to just drown in, and his sandy, ruffled hair was perfect, I want to run my fingers through it and tug on it while we….NO, Elena! Get your mind out of the gutter I told myself. This was Stefan we're talking about, the guy who knows exactly how to wind me up, the guy who has every girl wrapped around his little finger and the guy who would break your heart. Awkwardly, staring at the screen I tried to think about everything but Stefan.


	2. Chapter 2

{Elena's POV}

It was now 11pm and the movie had just finished, much to my annoyance Nik and Caroline had retreated to her bedroom over half an hour ago leaving just me and Stefan in the lounge area. Although Nik and Caroline's departure meant a whole couch was free, me and Stefan had remained in the same position on the same couch with my legs draped over his lap.

Honestly, I can't quite put my finger on what it is with him. Sure, I'm certain he pushes my buttons and teases me more than anyone else ever could and I act like I absolutely despise him, but there is this buried feeling within me that makes me want to like him. But every time that gnawing feeling creeps up on me I push it away because I know exactly who he is. He walks around like he owns the whole college, everything about him screams confidence from the way he walks to the way he speaks and not to the mention the way he pulls girls in. It's almost as if he is every girl on this planets kryptonite, one smile or look or word from him and he has them hook line and sinker. I mean from what I know and the rumours I've heard, he's easily slept with half the girls on campus and that's something I'll never be able to understand. How can he just sleep with girls and then disregard them as if they're nothing? Maybe he has his reasons, I don't know. However, I do know that it's not right for him to act the way he does, in fact it irritates the hell out of me. In spite of all of his actions, that I strongly disagree with, I still feel this pull towards him, like that there is this building tension that one day will explode. I wonder what he would be like as a boyfriend in a committed relationship, and not just in any relationship, a relationship with me. Would he buy me flowers, would he hold me late at night and just talk, and would he be an animal in the sheets and be able to satisfy my every need. Well, he certainly should be able to achieve the latter, with all the experience he's had. I wonder if he has a softer side that he would only reserve for me. God, what am I thinking? Of course he wouldn't do any of that, he wouldn't even look my way, I'm nothing special, but even if he did I'd surely just be another one of his conquests.

"Hey Gilbert, it's rude to stare" I was suddenly pulled out of my thoughts by Stefan, who I had obviously been gawking at this whole time.

I decided to go on the defensive and replied with, "Oh please as if I would waste my time staring at you. By the way stop calling me Gilbert you jackass, my name's Elena".

"Oh, I know, I call you Gilbert because I know just how much it pisses you off. Anyways, you can stare at me all night long babe, I know how much you want me. Every girl wants a piece of Salvatore" Stefan winked.

Rolling my eyes in disgust, I got up from the couch. As I was walking away I said, "Whatever Stefan, I'm going back to my apartment now".

"Hey Gilbert, wait up!" Stefan shouted as he caught up with me on the stairs down to the main exit of Caroline's building.

"Ugh, what do you want now Stefan?" I sighed and he smirked, obviously happy to see the effect his presence had on me.

"Listen I'm here to walk you back to your apartment, whether you like it or not because it's late and dark out, who knows what weirdos could be hanging around" he said with a serious tone, which told he was getting his own way. That's another thing with Stefan, now and again he shows he has this weird obsession to protect me. I didn't reply because secretly I was kind of happy he offered, sometimes walking around campus at night freaks me out because like he said you never know who could be hanging round.

Walking through the park in an uncomfortable silence, I decided to start one of our stupid petty arguments because it's what we knew how to do best. "So, what happened with that blonde waitress, was she dumb enough to fall into your stupid trap?" I asked him.

Looking at me and smirking in amusement he cleared his throat and said, "No actually I didn't even bother asking for her number, why would you want to know anyway?"

"Hmm how un-Stefan of you not getting a girl's number. Oh, and the reason why I wanted to know is because a girl always needs her daily dose of gossip". There I was lying again, of course the real reason why I wanted to know was because deep down I was jealous, but he couldn't know that.

"Yeah well I decided to try out not having sex with a stranger for one night, and it's clearly not working out for me because here I am having yet another ridiculous fight with you" he joked back flashing that knee weakening smile. I swear that smile will be the death of me.

"Whatever Salvatore you love fighting with me, just admit it". Wait a second, that sounded much more flirtatious than sarcastic. Oh my god, was I flirting with him? Was he flirting with me? Internally telling myself to shut up we rounded the corner to my apartment block.

"Yeah Gilbert you're right I do love fighting with you. Anyway, this is you". Once again, Stefan smiled at me and it wasn't smug or playful, it looked as though there was something genuine in those gorgeous green eyes.

Trying not to blush, I choked out my response. "Errr, erm yeah this is me".

Stefan nodded and replied, "Okay night Gilbert, try not to dream of me", clearly, he had returned to his playful and arrogant self.

"Trust me I will. Night Salvatore", with that Stefan turned around and started to head back to his apartment but then I remembered my manners. "Hey Salvatore!" I shouted, and he turned back around "thanks for walking me home". Without waiting for a response, I headed up the stairs to my apartment hoping my roommate wasn't going to wake up as I entered.


	3. Chapter 3

{Stefan's POV}

After making sure Elena was safely back at her apartment, I walked the short distance back to mine. Like Caroline, I was lucky enough to get my own decent sized apartment without the need for a roommate, however Elena was not as fortunate and seemed to have a pretty boring roommate, I would know I think I might have slept with her when I was a freshman at some party last year. But to be fair I was probably wasted and had no intention of finding out whether she was boring or interesting, I was just out to get lucky. Speaking of getting lucky, I wondered why I hadn't got that waitresses phone number or brought her back to my place for some no strings attached fun. I mean it's not as if I hadn't done it before, I've been with loads of girls but not as many as the rumours state. Over my freshman and most of my sophomore year, all I've heard about me is stupid rumours about how many girls I've gotten, the most ridiculous rumour that's came to my attention is that my magic number is on 500 girls and counting. Well, if we're counting, I'd say I've had sex with maybe 30 girls give or take. Although part of me knows it's not greatest way to act, these girls know what they're getting into, they know that all I want with them is one night of fun, with no feelings. It's not as if I promise them some sort of Nicholas Sparks love story, I don't know what to say, it's just not my thing. Or at least that's what I tell myself. Deep down there's a part of me telling me to stop acting like a jackass womaniser, who only cares about sex. That part of me is telling me to give someone a chance and commit, but I can't, not after what happened last time. I don't have commitment issues, I have trust issues. Truth be told I'm scared and lonely, I don't sleep with girls because all I want is sex, I think the reason why I do it is to avoid being completely lonely. Looking at Nik and Caroline, of course part of me is jealous, they have each other and they're in love and it just fits. But after the reputation I seem to have built, it doesn't look like I'll ever get to share that with someone.

Sighing as I walk into my apartment, I flop down on my bed and curse myself for getting too lost in my thoughts. I try to distract myself by thinking about something else but that's when she pops into my head. Elena. That girl drives me crazy, in all the wrong and right ways. There's just something about her. Unlike every other girl, she doesn't just fall at my feet. If I'm being an ass (which I probably am), she calls me out and makes sure she tells me, and I like it, she's feisty and opinionated and to be honest it's sexy. Not to mention her stunning looks, she's beautiful but she doesn't even know it, which is good because she's not obsessed with herself but also bad because she deserves to know she's beautiful. She's got this long luscious brown hair I want to play with for hours, she's got this smooth olive skin I want to kiss every inch of and she's got these brown doe eyes that I would quite happily drown in. Oh, I can't forget her smile, I swear it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen, it's like when she smiles everything around me stops. Being the guy that I am, I obviously can't deny that she's got a perfectly curved ass and a great rack. Then there's that whole innocent and nerdy thing she's got going on, I like that she's intelligent and driven, but I can't help but wonder if Elena Gilbert has a wild side. Maybe she models herself on the phrase 'lady in the streets, freak in the sheets'. Oh god, I could imagine Elena getting down and dirty, wrapping her tanned long legs around my waist as we had mind-blowing sex. But with Elena, it's not just about looks or sex, it's her, who she is and who she wants to be. I wonder if maybe one day when I stop worrying so much, she could be the one for me, she could be the one who I can put my trust in without it being thrown back in my face. Hang on a second. Who am I kidding? This is Elena I'm thinking about. I, no we, could never go there, we live to annoy and argue with each other. But even if I tried, there's not a chance she would feel the same. When she looks at me all she sees is the guy who pisses her off and the idiot who sleeps around.

Removing my t-shirt and jeans, I got into bed and attempted to get some sleep without thinking of Elena.


	4. Chapter 4

{Stefan's POV}

The next day I got up at 7am since I couldn't sleep anyway. All night all I could think about was Elena. I was starting to scare myself because I should not be thinking about her that way. I hardly got any sleep because I either found myself thinking about her or telling myself off for thinking about her.

Lucky for me, it was a Saturday, meaning I had no classes, so I decided to put my sports shorts and trainers on and go for a run. I didn't bother putting a shirt on because it was June and way too hot. Despite it being the weekend, I actually enjoyed getting up at this time and going for a run, because on campus it was so quiet and there was no one to interrupt my running. Also, running and having time to myself allowed me to clear my head, which was obviously messed up at moment due to the way I had been thinking about Elena all night.

After taking my usual route, I ran out the park and rounded the corner too quickly and bumped into someone, having to grab them and pull them close to me so they didn't fall over. I looked down at who it was, and luckily enough for me, it was Elena, the girl I was trying to stop thinking about. She was looking up at me, and even though seconds had passed, we were still frozen in the same position. Her hands were pressed firmly against my bare chest as my arms were looped around her holding her tight against me. I noticed that she was wearing a purple tank and tight running pants that perfectly showed off her ass. I could feel her gaze burning into me as my eyes raked over her body. Then, before I knew it, she stepped back away from and I missed the lack of contact.

{Elena's POV}

After thinking I had crashed into some stranger whilst on my morning run, I realised it was Stefan and once our awkward half hugging, half holding onto each other thing was over, I got the chance to get a proper look at him. He was wearing these navy, blue sports shorts that showed off his powerful muscular legs and much to my enjoyment he wasn't wearing a shirt, so I could see every line and edge of his perfectly sculpted abs. He was like some sort of Greek god. For once, I was able so see him when his hair hadn't been styled, don't get me wrong he's still attractive when his hair is styled, but when it was ruffled and messy, it made him look rugged, which added to his sexiness. God, I must have been drooling everywhere.

"Like what you see Gilbert" Stefan laughed at me.

"What? Erm, no. You caught me off guard that's all. Anyway, what are you doing up at this time on a Saturday?" I replied trying to cover up my tracks.

"I'm normally up and running at this time every Saturday if my week hasn't been too stressful. What about you, what are you doing at this time?" Stefan asked me.

"Well with Summer coming soon I decided I need to start working out making sure I at least have a half decent summer body" I said, and Stefan furrowed his eyebrows.

"What are you talking about your body is perfect" Stefan said quickly. I blushed and gave him a funny look and he realised what he said and began babbling. "Wait no, wait yes, erm, what I mean is you look, you look good". Stefan's cheeks flushed red, clearly embarrassed at his own stuttering. This was weird. I had never seen him like this, normally he was bursting at the seams with confidence and now he looked like a nervous teenager.

"Well thanks I guess". I tried to recover from our series of awkward moments and appreciate Stefan not trying to annoy me for once. However, silence came over us once again and I tried to think of something to say, but was then interrupted by Stefan, who had seemed to regain his confidence.

"Hey, if you're not busy do you wanna go on a walk or something?" Stefan asked, there was still this weird atmosphere between us though.

"Wow is Stefan Salvatore being nice to me? I never thought I would live to see the day and to answer your question, yes I'll come but as long as you don't start being an ass and go get a shirt" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Stefan smiled and chuckled, "Yeah okay come on let's go, we'll stop by apartment on the way".

Stefan and I walked back through the park and to his apartment building, I stopped outside deciding to wait for him there. Stefan turned around and looked at me funny.

"What are you doing? You can come up if you want, I mean you might as well I've gotta pick up a few things". I just nodded and followed Stefan up the stairs. I'd been outside of Stefan's building before, but I'd never actually been in his apartment, despite all of us being in a friendship group since the start of freshman year. He opened his front door and we walked in. To be honest, I thought I was about to see a messy apartment that was practically a man cave for Stefan to bring all of his girls back to. However, to my surprise, Stefan's apartment was actually really nice. He had a wooden floor and brick walls that were not painted, making it look quite cool. His lounge area and bedroom were sort of mixed into one since his apartment was open plan, in one corner was his TV, coffee table and couch, then about three metres behind his couch was his bed, wardrobe and dresser. Across from his bedroom area was his kitchen section, there was a small two in one fridge freezer, microwave, stove and oven, he also had a bench, where he could eat his food. Scanning the rest of the room, I noticed two doors down a small corridor, it must be his bathroom and a utility cupboard I guessed. Sure, it was a guy's apartment, but still I was impressed. I felt quite cosy here. I had to admit I was jealous, typical me pulled the short straw and had to share an apartment with a roommate, who was older than me in junior year. Next to his TV, I noticed loads of books and a few photos scattered across his shelves.

As Stefan was wandering around looking for whatever he was bringing with him, I walked over to the shelves at looked at the photos. There was one of Stefan, when he must have been no older than seven with what looked like his parents and his brother, I smiled, admiring how cute he was back then. I was a bit confused as to why there wasn't any more recent photos of him with his family, but as pulled out of my thoughts by Stefan's voice.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Stefan asked me. I nodded, and we left his apartment to go on our walk or whatever I was doing with Stefan.


	5. Chapter 5

{Stefan's POV}

Walking side by side with Elena, I directed her to my truck, which was an old and simple, red pick-up truck, it wasn't much but it was a car of some sort. She looked at me in confusion.

"I thought we were going on a walk Salvatore, getting in your truck would be cheating" Elena teased, and I smiled.

"Well where we're going to walk isn't close by, so we'll have to drive there first" I replied matter of factly and opened the passenger door for her. She rolled her eyes at me and I got in and started to drive.

"So are you going to tell me where we're going" Elena asked already getting impatient. I smirked and shook my head.

"Nope, if I told you then it wouldn't be as fun. Anyways it's a surprise" I answered, and she scrunched up her nose and looked at me in over the top annoyance, which made me laugh.

"Awwwhh come on Stefan please tell me" she whined. Yet again I just shook my head and she sighed in frustration. She turned and faced forward, clearly admiring the blue skies and scenery. I kept stealing sideways glances, whilst trying to focus on the road, god she looked beautiful. The sunlight was pouring through the windows and illuminating her skin. For like the millionth time in the past 12 hours my mind wandered to thinking about Elena and her perfect skin and how I'd like to run my tongue across it…Stop Stefan! Seriously, what's wrong with me? I wondered. I can't be thinking about her like this it's just weird. In an attempt to distract myself, I reached over and turned the radio on: however, it backfired when Little Things by One Direction came on. Elena squealed with happiness and turned it up as I groaned and tried to turn it off. I suppose it was an okay song, but it was soppy, and I don't do soppy, and I couldn't have Elena thinking I was into it. But when I tried to turn it off she slapped my arm away and gave me a look that said, 'don't you dare'. I jokingly put my arms up in fake defence making her shake her head trying not to laugh. Just as the song ended, the scenery opened up and you could see a clearing that was a gorgeous, small lake. Elena sprang up from her seat and gazed at the surroundings.

"Wow Stefan this is amazing, how come you've never brought up this place before?" said Elena.

"I don't know really. I mostly come here alone to clear my head and just have some time to myself without the craziness of college coming with me" I responded. Pulling into a parking spot, we got out of my truck and starting walking along the path that circled the lake.

{Elena's POV}

Whilst we were walking, Stefan and I fell into a comfortable silence. It had been 10 minutes since one of us last spoke. I couldn't help it, my mind started to wander. I began to question why Stefan asked me to come here, one second, we're arguing like moody teenagers and then we're here all of a sudden, we're here just me and him and I'm having a good time. Without planning where this conversation would end up, I decided to ask him something.

"Stefan, can I ask you something?"

"Hmmmmm depends what you want to know Gilbert" he replied suggestively, raising his eyebrows.

"Ugh never mind I was going to try and ask you a serious question" I said sounding over the top, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. For some reason, I just really wanted to try to get to know Stefan on some deeper level. Rather than just knowing him to be some stupid guy, who just sleeps with any girl. I know he has another side and I am going to get it out of him. Stefan looked over to me with a surprised look on his face.

"Oh sorry, well ask away then" Stefan said, and I smiled.

"How come you asked me to come here with you? I mean you've never mentioned this place before and it seems to have some sort of special meaning to you, if you come here to think. Also, it kind of surprised me, you asking me out today. We've always had this stupid frenemy relationship, I'm not gonna lie Stefan there's times where I want to kill you" he chuckled, "and I'm sure you haven't exactly liked me calling you a jackass or asshole everyday since the start of freshman year. So why now? Why me?"

Stefan looked at me in this unfamiliar way, he looked at me in a way he had never looked at me before and it made my heart race. He sighed before beginning to speak.

"Believe it or not Gilbert I actually like you. As far as I can remember we never actually had a disagreement and there was nothing that happened that made us start having petty fights. The way I remember it is you sort of judged me before you really got to know me. When Nik introduced me to you I'm guessing you'd heard some of the rumours about me and didn't like what you heard. So, when we started hanging out as a group and you gave me the cold shoulder, it encouraged me to wind you up as stupid as it sounds. It's like it was the only way I could get your attention. But like I said Gilbert, I've never actually disliked you, I just get kick out of annoying you".

Totally dumbfounded by his response, I had no idea what to say. He was completely right, I remember when Caroline told me that Nik was bringing Stefan along to the Grill for the first time, I judged him before meeting him. I'd heard all about his reputation with girls and decided that I wouldn't try to get to know him. God, I felt so stupid, if I hadn't been so stuck up maybe things would've been so different now. Stefan was staring at me inquisitively, waiting for my response.

"Oh, I, I, I'm so sorry that that's the way you feel Stefan, I had no idea but looking back you're right, I did totally judge you before meeting you and all I can say is I'm sorry" I babbled trying my hardest to make him realise that I genuinely regretted my actions.

"Hey, listen, it's okay Elena. I know what people think of me and what I do, and I know all about the stupid rumours that are spread about me. So, don't worry, I don't blame you for acting the way you did, any rational person would've done the same. Anyway, I can't say I regret the past year and a half, spending everyday annoying and fighting with you, it's been a pleasure". Stefan smiled one of his beautiful smiles at me.

"I mean I shouldn't have judged you, but yeah you're right the past year and a half arguing with you has been pretty fun. Hang on a second, you actually just called me Elena instead of Gilbert, wow Salvatore I don't want you going completely soft on me" I joked trying to get another smile out of him. Just as I wished he looked at me and smiled.

"Well Lena you can't have everything" he said winking at me. "But if you want we can get ice cream at that place just over there" he pointed to a small café.

"Oh my god yes I absolutely love ice cream" I squealed with excitement as Stefan chuckled. His laugh was starting to become one of my favourite sounds. We walked over to the café and placed our orders. Stefan ordered raspberry ripple and I decided on strawberry, we took our ice creams over to a park bench next to the lake and sat down. I checked the time and it was only 11am.

"Here's to a new start of trying to be friends" I proposed holding my ice cream up giggling trying to make him say 'cheers'. Stefan shook his head and laughed.

"To a new start" he said and then added "but this does not mean I'm going to stop teasing or annoying you".

"Good I replied because it doesn't mean I'm gonna stop calling you out for being an idiot" I replied, and he smirked.

After that me and Stefan talked for hours about anything and everything, we also decided to walk around the lake a few more times. Stefan proposed that we headed back since we still had to drive, and it was already 8pm. I couldn't believe this day had flown by, but that was probably because I had so much fun.

By the time we arrived back on campus, it was already 9pm. Once again Stefan insisted on walking me back to my apartment building. Approaching my building, I tried to hide the fact I was so disappointed this day had ended.

"Well I guess this is me" I said, and Stefan nodded. "I had a really good time today thanks Stefan", I decided to be bold and without giving him time to respond, I leaned in and kissed his cheek. I stepped back, and Stefan looked surprised.

"Um, so did I. Goodnight Elena" Stefan said.

"Goodnight Stefan", and with that I entered my building and waltzed up to my apartment with a grin on my face. I went straight to bed and hopped onto it thinking about everything that happened today, no matter what I couldn't wipe the grin off of my face. All I knew is that I couldn't wait to see him again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: This chapter in particular is rated M, so if you don't like smut feel free to skip this chapter. Like I said Stefan and Elena's relationship will slowly develop, however this chapter seems to have sped things up. But what will happen next? Hope you in enjoy.**

{Elena's POV}

Just as I was about fall asleep, I was rudely interrupted by a knock at the door. It was 10pm now and after a long day of walking around with Stefan I just wanted to sleep. Not hearing any sign of movement from my roommate Bonnie's room I accepted that I was going to have to answer the door. Looking through the peep hole on the door I saw that it was Stefan, who was looking quite frantic. I opened the door and before I got a chance to speak, he started talking.

"I'm sorry I've been waiting to do this for so long, I can't help myself" and with that Stefan grabbed my face and pulled me in for a long, passionate kiss that left me breathless. I didn't kiss him back, but I also didn't back away. I honestly couldn't believe this was happening. Stefan stepped back and looked at me worried, he was about to say something but before he could I pressed my lips back to his. He reacted immediately and pushed against me so that his body was flush against mine.

I had thrown my arms around his neck and pulled him into my apartment, not looking back he kicked the door shut. Before I knew it, Stefan had me up against a wall as we kissed fiercely, neither one of us wanting to come up for air. His soft lips trailed down to my neck where he kissed, sucked and nibbled making me release a silent moan. My hands ran through his sandy, ruffled hair and tugged on it just as I had previously dreamed about, whilst his hands had a vice like grip on waist. Continuing his journey across my neck and collarbone, his expert lips were everywhere, and Stefan was everything. He hoisted me up so that my legs could wrap around his waist and so that I could use my heels to press him closer to me. As I did so, his hard length pressed into my sensitive centre making me moan with sheer pleasure. Moving back to my lips, we began a slow, sensual kiss as he gently rocked into me. Unable to take anymore, I pulled away and told him to get to my bedroom and fast.

Stumbling through the door with his hands on my ass kneading and squeezing, Stefan playfully threw me on the bed and I couldn't help but shriek and giggle. Stefan dived back on top of me, settling himself between my legs. He leaned down and whispered in my ear "What's so funny?" and then sucked and bit my earlobe, sending shivers down my spine. Wanting to speed the process up, I grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged it over his head, admiring the view, I trailed my hands from his chest down his abs to the waistband of his shorts. Watching him shudder with pleasure, turned me on even more and spurred me on to take control, so using all my strength, I pushed him and flipped us over. Stefan gawked at me in surprise but then smirked, clearly enjoying the role reversal. I grabbed the bottom of my pyjama shirt and pulled it over my head, exposing my breasts. Stefan bit his lip and his eyes clouded over with lust. However, I was still in control and leaned down and started trailing wet open mouth kisses down his abs until I got to the waistband of his shorts. Feeling brave, I trailed my hand up his leg and over his hard length that was covered by the thin material of his shorts and boxers. Growling with need, Stefan flipped us back over, so he was on top and began sucking on my right nipple as he pinched the other one in his hand, alternating between each breast, I could swear I was in heaven right now. Stefan's teeth clamped down on my nipple, eliciting a loud moan from me, he looked up at me and smirked. "Please Stefan" I begged, and he knew exactly what I wanted.

"Please what Elena?" Stefan asked playing dirty he was just doing this to tease me. "Tell me what you want me to do".

Growing too impatient, I replied with "I want you to fuck me fast and hard Stefan", this caught him off guard, but he obeyed and ripped off my pyjama shorts. Stripping himself off his own shorts, I caught a glimpse of his hard length, and oh my, the rumours were true, it was massive. Stefan intertwined our fingers and put our hands either side of my head, he then positioned himself and just as he was about to slide in… I woke up unexpectedly, sweating from the moments I had played in my head. Oh my god, I just had a sex dream about Stefan Salvatore.

Lying there wide eyed, I couldn't believe this was happening. Sure, I knew I was physically attracted to him. But so far, I was only planning to get to know him properly on a friendship level, I mean we've only just decided to try and be friends for gods sake. Now here I am lying awake at 1am trying to recover from the sort of sex dream I just had with him. I have no idea what I'm going to do, I need some advice so I'm going to have to text Caroline and get her help.

Elena: Emergency friend SOS. Caroline need your help ASAP, meet me for lunch tomorrow xxx

After texting Caroline, I decided to try and at least get some sleep, doing everything to push Stefan out of my mind.


	7. Chapter 7

{Elena's POV}

Despite trying to fall asleep last night, I couldn't. All I could do was replay the dream I had of Stefan over and over again. I don't know what to do. I'm scared at these feelings I have for him, they seem to have just come flooding in all at once and now he's all I can think about. The strangest thing is no more than two days ago I was still fighting with him and looking at him in disgust. But now, suddenly, things are different.

Rolling over to grab my phone, that had just vibrated, I was relieved to see that Caroline had replied, telling me to come over to her apartment as soon as I could. This couldn't wait, so I got out of bed and threw on a pair of black skinny jeans and a white camisole.

On the walk over to Caroline's, I thought about what I was going to say. I'm obviously not gonna tell her I've became obsessed with Stefan, she'd freak out and then tease for me wanting him despite years of fighting with him. All I'll tell her is the details and the fact that I've started feeling differently towards this guy that I've known for a while, but never actually had a chance to see him in another way.

Knocking on her door, Caroline answered and dragged me in instantly.

"So, what was up with the emergency SOS!?" Caroline asked frantically.

"Look, it's a long story so I suggest you just calm down and take a seat, okay?" I said trying to calm her down and she nodded. We sat down on her couch, and I took a deep breath, getting ready to tell her. "Oh, wait Nik isn't here or coming later is he? This has to stay between me and you".

"No, he isn't he's gone out for the day with Stefan. Go ahead" Caroline smiled trying to reassure me, I hope she didn't notice me tense when she said Stefan's name otherwise my cover would have been blown.

"So, basically last night I got into bed and everything was fine" I gulped and then continued "but then I had this really weird dream that I thought was reality until I woke up" I stopped and looked at her, trying to read her expression.

"Elena, sweetie, you're going to have to elaborate a bit more than that" Caroline said in a half amused, half cautious tone.

"Well, I, um, I had this dream", god I was babbling, pull yourself together Elena! "I had this sex dream about this guy I've known for ages last night. It's really weird though because I've never looked at him or thought about him in that way before, but now I do. Normally we don't get a long like at all, we pretty much disagree on everything. But, now, no matter what I do I can't get him out of my head and the craziest thing is when I woke up and realised it was a dream, I was so disappointed" I spat out in one massive jumble of words.

"Oh, wow, that's a lot to take in" Caroline paused for a second as if to regather her thoughts but then continued. "Go Elena! You know what I say? Go for it, it's been ages since you've gotten any, and you deserve it. But, who's the guy, do I know him?"

"Oh, the guy, it's um, it's, he's" my babbling was interrupted by Caroline squealing.

"OH MY GOD! It's Stefan!" Caroline shouted with the biggest grin on her face. My eyes widened in horror, and my face turned bright red. How did she know?

"What? You have no idea what you're talking about" I lied in a failed attempt to convince her otherwise.

"Elena I'm not stupid. You said that you've never looked at him in that way before, meaning it could be Stefan. Then you said that you normally don't get on and you disagree on everything, therefore meaning it's definitely Stefan. Anyway, me and Nik went on a walk last night, and I saw you kiss his cheek. Don't worry though Nik didn't see, and I haven't said anything. Oh my god I can't believe this, never did I think I would be sat here with you telling me you want Stefan Salvatore" Caroline mused. She was right and I'm an awful liar, so instead of thinking of a comeback I just buried my heads and groaned.

"Elena, hey, it's okay. Now that you've told me what happened, and I know who it is, why don't you just try and explain how this came about and what you actually feel? Then I'll do everything I can to help". Caroline pulled my hands away from my face and smiled. I gave her a half smile and nodded.

"Well I'm not sure when it all started really. Like ever since we all met in freshman year and got to know each other, I've always sort of felt a pull of attraction to him but just pushed away because of his reputation and the fact we argue all the time. But lately, things have changed. It sounds ridiculous, but I've been getting jealous when he looks at or speaks to other girls, and the other night when we were watching the movie, when all he did was touch my legs this surge of electricity passed through me and I wanted more. Also, yesterday happened, we bumped into each other when we were both on a run and to begin with it was awkward, I'm pretty sure I drooled staring at his abs and then he said something about my body being perfect and then he got really nervous. After that though, he asked me if I wanted to go on a walk and he drove me to this amazing lake and we talked for hours, just getting to know each other and agreeing to be friends. I couldn't help myself I kept looking at him and god I think he's gorgeous, his eyes are amazing and his smile is a little crooked but beautiful to me" I sighed thinking about his smile.

"Wow" she giggled "Elena Gilbert you've got it bad for him. So, what are you gonna do about it?"

"Nothing, something, I don't know, I'm scared. What if he doesn't feel the same and I totally embarrass myself? I mean it's not as if I can compete with any of the girls he gets on a daily basis. He would never look at me in that way" I replied, confused and worried about how this could turn out.

"Elena, trust me I think he feels the same" Caroline tried to reassure me, but I just looked at her as if she was crazy, so she carried on. "Whenever you're not around he's always asking where you are and how you are. There's been so many times when I've caught him just staring at you with a smile on his face. Not to mention, last night after you kissed his cheek, I saw him walk off with goofiest grin on his face, in fact I'd never seen him so happy. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know all about Stefan's reputation, but there's more to him. If you don't give him a chance, you'll never know. Listen to me Elena, you need to back yourself and have more confidence, Stefan would be lucky to have you, and you wouldn't just be some other girl to him".

"Thanks Caroline you're such an amazing friend" I pulled her into a hug.

"Okay! This is what we're gonna do. I'm gonna come over to your apartment and we're gonna get you all glammed up, I'll help you pick out an outfit and do your make up. Then I'm gonna call Nik and tell him that there's an emergency and he needs to come to my apartment straight away, leaving Stefan alone in his apartment. You're gonna go to Stefan's apartment and when he opens his door, you're gonna look so beautiful he will be speechless. Then you're just gonna play the ball in his court, just tell him how you feel with confidence and leave it up to him to make the next move. With guys like Stefan, confidence and playing hard to get goes a long way". I laughed and nodded at Caroline's detailed mission. She was right, all I had to do was tell him how I feel. Time to go get Stefan.


	8. Chapter 8

{Elena's POV}

Caroline and I have spent hours getting me ready. I must have easily tried on fifty different outfits until Caroline, being the fashion guru, she is, selected the perfect one. I was wearing a white lace dress that was fitted around my chest and stomach but flowed down my legs just above my knees. I wore it with a denim jacket and a pair of white converse, so I looked hot but still like myself.

So far everything was going smoothly, it was now 7pm and I was dressed and ready to go. Caroline had just called Nik and made up some ridiculous emergency I can't even begin to explain. She told me Nik was on his way back from the Grill now and I should be heading over soon.

"Remember what I said, just go over there with confidence telling him how you feel, and Stefan will be putty in your hands" Caroline reassured me once again.

"Thanks so much for today Caroline, I really needed it" I said whilst puling her into a hug.

I left my apartment and started walking over to Stefan's, of course I was still really nervous, but like Caroline said, as long as I'm confident and say what I need to say, there is no way I'll end up regretting it. From what Caroline told me, there's a good chance Stefan will feel the same, or at least that's what I hope. I know I shouldn't get too ahead of myself, but I can't help it. I start to imagine what Stefan would be like as a boyfriend. I envision him holding my hand as we walk side by side, I see him peppering my face with kisses to wake me up and I imagine him taking me out for not only romantic but fun dates too.

Before I know it, I'm at his apartment building and as I take each step up, my heart races faster and faster. Arriving at his door, I took a deep breath and knocked. I heard shuffling inside, which confirmed Stefan was home.

The door swung open, but I wasn't greeted by Stefan. My throat tightened as the person who answered the door was that blonde waitress from the grill, and all she was wearing was one of Stefan's shirts and her underwear.

"Stefan's busy right now, but I can take a message" she smirked at me and I wanted to slap it off her face.

I just mumbled and incoherent "never mind" and got out of there.

I ran as fast as I could back to my apartment and went straight to my room. Diving onto my bed, my eyes filled with tears as I cursed myself for being so stupid. How could I let myself fall for Stefan Salvatore?

 **Author's note: So close yet so far. Like I said, their story would take time to develop so it's obvious obstacles would get in the way. I didn't think it would be realistic if two people went from arguing to getting together straight away. However, STELENA ENDGAME is certain. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

**_2 weeks later_**

{Stefan's POV}

It had been two weeks since I spent the day with Elena, which was also the last time I'd seen her. Something was off, I just didn't know what. Normally we would all hang out at the Grill through the week and have the occasional movie night or something, but during these past two weeks Elena hadn't showed up once and Caroline was acting differently with me. I'd even dropped by Elena's apartment a few times to see if she was okay, but every time her roommate Bonnie would answer and give me the cold shoulder and tell me she wasn't home. I was so confused. Had I done something wrong? I've asked myself that question a million times after I realised Elena was avoiding me. Maybe she had changed her mind and decided that we couldn't change our relationship to being better friends, maybe she realised that all we would ever be to each other is a pain in the ass. If only she knew how I really felt, maybe things would be so different. But I could never bring myself to tell her, it would be selfish of me because Elena is an amazing girl and she deserves amazing things, not a guy like me. Truth is, I miss her. It sounds ridiculous, it's only been two weeks, but I do, I really miss her. You know what? I'm not just gonna sit round here on my ass wondering what I did, I'm gonna go and find out.

Pacing over to her apartment building, I ran up the stairs determined to get to the bottom of what was going on. I didn't even bother knocking, I just walked straight in and there she was sitting on her couch looking at me in shock.

"What are you doing here?" She said to me half shocked, half annoyed.

"Nice to see you too Gilbert. I'm here to find out why you've been avoiding me" I said raising my voice for some reason. She had got up and walked over to me but still staying quite far away as if she was protecting herself from me. She was looking everywhere but me.

"I've been busy not avoiding you" she lied. She always was a bad liar.

"Bullshit, I wanna know why you haven't been around lately, and before you make something else up, I know it's something to do with me because you've been speaking to Nik and Caroline" I responded not believing a thing she said.

"Listen Stefan I don't want to get into this right now" she replied sounding exasperated.

"Well too bad because I'm not leaving until you tell me what's up" I tried not to sound too angry, but I was frustrated. She sighed and went back the couch to sit down, I followed and sat down too, trying to not to get too close because something was clearly bugging her.

{Elena's POV}

I was totally caught off guard my Stefan's appearance and I didn't know what to say. But what I did know is that I needed to distance myself from him because I was still recovering from my hurt feelings. I noticed that Stefan looked genuinely upset that I had been avoiding him, but I still wasn't ready to face him properly again, so I decided to try and let him down easily.

"Stefan, look, I don't regret that day we spent together or the part where I said we should start off fresh and get to know each other better, but what I'm saying is I can't do it right now. Right now, things are tense with school, and me and you are just too different. I do things that annoy you and you do things that annoy me. I think that if we tried to get on as if we never had this argumentative past, we would either be lying to ourselves or it would change us. You are who you are, and I won't change you". God, that sounded so over the top, it's not as if we were a couple or anything but I didn't know what else to say. "I'll start coming back to the Grill and our movie nights and I'll be civil with you, but that's it. I'm sorry". As the words came out of my mouth, Stefan's face dropped, I'd never seen him like this before. Looking into his eyes, all I could see was sadness and my heart ached, but I had to protect myself.

"Huh, okay, I guess if that's what you really want" Stefan stuttered and got up and walked out slowly but not without giving me one last look, his sad eyes burning into me.

{Stefan's POV}

I couldn't believe all those things Elena had just said to me. I though she wanted to get me know properly, but obviously not. That's what I get for trying to trust someone. I couldn't tell if I was mad or upset, both probably, but more sad. Stupid me for thinking that I actually had a chance with her and for believing I could let someone in and let them get too close to me.

Returning to my idiotic, impulsive self, I decided to go to the Grill and drink away my sadness, which would probably end in me taking some girl back to my apartment.


	10. Chapter 10

{Elena's POV}

A few days had passed since I lied to Stefan about how I wanted things to be between us. I had returned to our group meet ups at the Grill, but that didn't mean Stefan and I were on the best terms. We were both involved in the conversations within the group, and sometimes we would even return to our old selves where he would tease me, and I would react by insulting him. But there was still an underlying, awkward tension and I knew he could feel it too because he was acting differently. He didn't seem to shine with confidence and the mischievous glint in his eyes was replaced by slight sadness, and I couldn't help but feel like I was the person who caused it. There have been so many times where I've wanted to tell him the truth about how I feel, but I can't. I need to protect myself because I never want to feel the way I did when I opened his door to that blonde waitress again. Surely as time passes things will go back to normal, won't they? Or at least that's what I hope.

Deciding that lying in bed wondering whether things will return to the way we were is not a good idea, I get up to go get a coffee to wake me up. As I go get my coffee, I see that Bonnie is already up and dressed ready to go to class. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Bonnie, it's just that she's so uptight and makes little effort to talk to me. Maybe it's because she's a year older and finds me immature, I don't know.

"Hey Elena, can I talk to you for a second?" she asks. Caught off guard, I just nod and join her on the couch. "You're a great roommate, and it's nothing to do with you, but I sort of need you to move out".

"Erm, may I ask why?" I say annoyed, I'm pretty sure she can't just ask me to leave.

"My friend who's at another college is transferring here and she's my age, studying the same subjects so I promised her that when she came she could move in with me. I'm sorry Elena" she says apologetically. I can't exactly refuse to leave since Bonnie lived here for a year before I came along.

"Oh, erm, when do you need me gone?" I ask trying to be understanding.

"Oh yeah that's the other thing" she says regretfully. "You sort of need to be gone by the end of the week",

"Wait what?! Where am I supposed to go Bonnie?" I say in total shock and anger.

"I'm sorry Elena but I'm sure you can figure something out. I need to get to class" she says in a hurried tone, rushing out the door.

I sigh and put my head in my hands in disbelief. Honestly, I'm not that bothered about moving out, it's the fact I have to be gone by the end of next week. Just excellent, another problem in the complicated life of Elena Gilbert.

{Stefan's POV}

Just like most other nights, me and the rest of the group have arranged to meet at the Grill to hang out. Things haven't been overly awkward with Elena, but I'm still finding it hard to look her in the eyes after what she said to me. I'm trying not to think about it too much for the sake of everyone involved, but I feel like I've changed, like I've lost something. Pushing those thoughts below the surface for now, I spot Nik, Caroline and Elena in our usual booth. I instantly notice that Elena looks worked up about something because her eyebrows are furrowed, and her nose is scrunched up. Also, I notice that Caroline is rubbing her arm trying to reassure her.

"What's going on?" I say whilst sliding into the booth.

"Bonnie has told Elena she needs to move out and she has nowhere to go" Caroline sighs. "If I had the room, I would totally take you in you know that right?" she says turning to Elena.

"Of course, I do Caroline. It's just I don't know what I'm going to do. Everyone either has their own place with only one bedroom or they've already got roommates. I literally have no options" Elena says visibly upset and worried by the situation.

"You could move in with me" I blurt out without thinking before I speak. Classic Stefan I think. Elena just looks at me in confusion.

"Stefan I've been to your apartment, you only have one bedroom".

"No. I actually have a spare room next to my bathroom. It's a little small but it's somewhere to live" I say, secretly hoping she doesn't reject my offer. She thinks for a few seconds but then a smile appears on her beautiful face.

"Oh my god Stefan thank you so much, I don't know what I'd do without you" she says whilst getting out the booth and hugging me tightly. I return her hug, wishing she'd never let go, but she does.

"This is so great" she squeals, and I can't help the shy smile that comes to my face. "Will you guys help me move my stuff over to Stefan's in the next few days?" she asks with her puppy dogs eyes, which evidently work on everyone as even Caroline agrees to help.

The next few hours at the Grill pass by in a blur. All Elena has talked about is moving her stuff out of Bonnie's and to my place and how she's gonna arrange her new room. She asked me if she could come by tomorrow to get a look at the room, I of course agreed because I'd do anything to make her happy. Holy shit, did I just say I'd do anything to make her happy? I realise that yes, I did because it's true, I would. Seeing Elena so happy and relieved about moving in with me also made me just as if not more happy than her. I feel as though if I'm able to put a smile on her face, nothing else is really important. This reminded me of something my Mom said to me when I was little, she said that loving someone means that you put their happiness before your own, because if you truly love them, seeing them happy will make you happy as well.

Oh my god, I'm in love with Elena Gilbert.


	11. Chapter 11

{Elena's POV}

I'm on my way over to Stefan's place to check out his spare room. Originally, I thought that door next to his bathroom was a utility cupboard, but obviously not. God, Stefan is an absolute life saver, if it wasn't for him, I'd either be homeless or slumming it out on Caroline's couch. He seemed to offer his spare room to me quite happily, so I'm hoping this means that we're over the awkwardness and we're able to move. He wouldn't have been okay with me living with him otherwise. I knock and a few seconds later the door swings open and there Stefan is with that knee weakening smile.

"Hey, come in" he says leaning to the side allowing me space to walk in.

"Hi" I reply.

"So basically, the room next to the bathroom just over there is the spare bedroom. It's not huge but big enough for the basics like a bed, wardrobe and dresser. It might be a little messy right now because I use it for storage". He says as he leads the way to the room. "Go ahead" he nods his head to the door. I open the door, and honestly, it's perfect for all I'll ever need to put in there. It is a decent sized room, it might even be slightly bigger than the room I have now. At the moment, it's mainly filled with boxes that are filled with Stefan's stuff, however there is also a chair and a guitar in the corner.

"Stefan this is great, it actually looks a bit bigger then my bedroom now". I tell him and smile. "If you don't mind, is it okay if I start moving some stuff in by tomorrow? Just so I'm out by Bonnie's deadline".

"No, it's totally fine, I've got loads of time today to move all of that stuff out the room. So, erm, now that you've seen the room do you want to stay for a coffee or something?" he says nervously scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, sure" I say, and he smiles and then turns to head down the small corridor to the kitchen area. "So, how come you never had to have a roommate with an apartment like this?"

Whilst making our coffees he replies, "Well I guess I was just lucky with the apartment I got given. Since it's open plan and kinda big I just decided to put my bed and other stuff in here, so I could use that room for storage".

"Yeah you are lucky. I got an apartment that wasn't even that nice and had to share with a bore, who little did I know was gonna kick me out after only a year and a half". He chuckled at my response and I couldn't help but laugh too. "I have to admit I was a little surprised you offered your room to me" I said as I was curious as to why he said it so surely after discovering I was being kicked out.

"Well we're friends, right? I was just doing what any friend would do. Despite what you believe I'm not that big of an asshole that I wouldn't offer my spare room to a homeless friend. Anyway, I guess it means you owe me one" he teased giving me a sly wink as he brought our coffees over to the couch.

"Hmmm watch it Salvatore. One, I'm not homeless yet. Two, I don't think you're an asshole, well not a complete one anyway. I suppose I sort of owe you one" I teased back feeling the familiarity of our old ways settle back in. I sipped the coffee he made me and moaned because it tasted so amazing, Stefan had never made me coffee before, so I wasn't expecting it to be so good. Stefan stared at me wide eyed at my reaction and I immediately blushed. "Sorry, it just tastes so good. Where did you learn to make coffee this well?"

"In my senior year of high school, I worked at Starbucks as a barista. Well, if that's the reaction that my coffees get out of you, you can bet I'll be making you one every morning", for once Stefan didn't look like he was teasing. He said it in a husky voice and bit his lip. Holy shit, he was turning me on.

I blushed even harder then I did before and shook my head. "Listen Salvatore, if I'm going to be your roommate we need to set some rules" I said, and he eyed me in mock confusion.

"What did you have in mind Gilbert?" Stefan said trying not to smile.

"This is serious Stefan, I mean it" I say giving him a stern look.

"Okay, okay shoot" he says putting his hands up in defence.

"Well, just to let you know I will also follow these rules as well, so I'm not hypocritical". He nods, and I continue. "One, I don't think you're messy from what I've seen, but I would like our apartment to stay fairly clean. Two, I hope you don't just rely on me to make dinner every night. Three, you can have guy's nights every now and again, but I don't expect random football players to be here all of the time. Lastly, Stefan, I know that you like to, erm let's just say 'spend time' with many girls, but please be respectful. I don't want to be waking up every morning and bumping into strangers that are half-naked after having the spent the night with you".

"Hmm fair enough Mom". He teased, and I rolled my eyes. "However, there are a few flaws in some of your rules" he smirks at me and I glare at him, daring him to continue. Stefan being Stefan takes the dare with ease. "You said not to rely on you for dinner and trust me I won't because you're an awful cook, I remember that time you nearly burnt Caroline's apartment down. About the girl thing, I guess I'll try" he said pouting. After testing my rules, I shouldn't me thinking about kissing that pout, but I can't help myself, his lips look so kissable. No, Elena stop it, I tell myself.

"I'm not that bad at cooking" I say, and he looks at me as if to say, 'oh come one'. "Fine maybe I am. About the girl thing, I'm not expecting you to be celibate Stefan, however I also don't expect you to carry on the way you have been".

He pauses for a second acting as he's thinking, but I know he's just doing it to wind me up. "Okay, I can live with that". I smile happy that we were agreeing for once.

"Okay great, well listen I'm going to head back to my place and start packing things into boxes. I'll see you bright and early helping me to move, right?" I say flashing my best puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, I suppose" he says in fake reluctance.

Just as I'm about to leave I decide that I should thank him again. "Oh, Stefan, one more thing. I just want to say thank you so much. I know you say that any friend would do this, but still I want you to know that I really appreciate it". I say wrapping my arms around him. The intoxicating smell of his cologne invades me, and I feel light headed. He returns my hug and I swear he sort of turns his head slightly into my neck. Not that I want to, but after a few moments, I pull out of the hug and give him one last smile before leaving.


	12. Chapter 12

{Stefan's POV}

After days of moving Elena's stuff over to my place, we were finally done, and Elena was spending her first night in our apartment. It was now 7pm and since I'd practically been Elena's slave for these past few days I was beat. I couldn't be bothered to cook, so me and Elena agreed on ordering a Chinese. Whilst I was plating our food up, she was on the couch picking a movie for us to watch.

No matter how much I tried to deny it, I was falling for this girl more and more every day. Every time I see her, I just want to kiss her and hold her, which isn't something I've wanted to do with the other girls I've been with in college. When I look at her, it doesn't matter what she's wearing or whether she's got make up on, I think she's beautiful. Like right now, she's got her cute pyjamas on and her hair is up in a messy bun, and yet I swear she's perfect. I'm snapped out of my trance by the sound of her voice.

"Hey Salvatore, are you gonna hurry up with that food?" Elena teased as she turned her head to smirk at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes ma'am. Would you like a drink while I'm at it?" I say in a fake posh voice that makes her laugh.

"Sure, what is there to drink?"

"Well I'm having a beer. We've got water, orange juice and milk. Sorry I haven't got any of those fruity ciders or cocktails you and Caroline love" I tease.

"Oh really? Guess I'll just have a beer then" she said, and I raised my eyebrow.

"Fair play Gilbert" I respond. Carrying our food and drinks over to the couch, I sigh and plop down whilst Elena thanks me.

"To our first official night as roommates" I toast, and we clink our bottles.

Looking at the TV, I realise that Elena chose to watch the Theory of Everything, which I was happy about because I've been meaning to watch it for a long time. We fell into a comfortable silence whilst watching the film. But after half an hour, I could spot Elena dozing off out of the corner of my eye. I decided to just leave her be because she must have been pretty tired after all the packing and moving we'd done over the past few days. After drinking three beers, I really needed the bathroom, so I went and came back to find Elena sprawled across the sofa fast asleep. I debated letting her sleep on the couch because she looked so peaceful but realised if I left her the chances are she would be left with a bad back and neck for days.

"Hey, Elena come on, you need to go to bed" I whispered whilst shaking her arm gently. Rather than listening to me she just grumbled something incoherently and I chuckled about how childish she was being. "Elena come on, you're going to hurt your back" I tried again, but still had no success. "Fine I see how it is". I leaned down and scooped her into my arms so that I was carrying her bridal style. Originally, I thought she would protest but instead she just snuggled her head into my chest and sighed with contentment. Without being able to stop myself from smiling, I carried her over to her room and placed her in her bed. I'm pretty sure there was no harm in it and I also couldn't stop myself, so I bent down and placed a light kiss on her forehead, wishing her goodnight.

XXXXXXXXXX

{Elena's POV}

I had to admit, waking up for the first time in my new apartment with Stefan felt good. However, I don't remember bringing myself to bed, so I'm guessing Stefan must have carried me and done it himself. Rolling over to look at my alarm clock, I could see that it was 9am and I could hear Stefan shuffling about in the kitchen. I got up to find Stefan making pancakes. Damn, he looked good in the morning. He was wearing dark red plaid pyjama pants that were hanging low on his hips and a dark grey t-shirt that looked like it was from high school. Not to mention his hair, it had that messy and ruffled look that made him look even sexier than he already was. Sensing my presence, he turned around and looked at me with a lazy smile on his face.

"Morning. I'm making pancakes, you want some?" he asked, and I nodded saying please. "Oh, and I would be quite happy to make you another one of those coffees after the effect it had last time" he said in a husky voice and bit his lip, which made my breath catch in my throat.

"Hmm, yeah, whatever as long as you're my slave I'm not too bothered by that" I teased back and winked at him. Whilst he was making the pancakes, I walked over to the kitchen island and sat on one of the stools. We fell into light conversation as he asked me how I slept and asked me what I was going to do today.

"Hey, I was wondering what your plans for the summer are" he said as he flipped one of the pancakes over.

"Not much really. I'll be going home to visit for a week or so and that's probably it since Nik and Caroline are going on their road trip for most of the holiday. Why do you ask?" I respond curiously.

"Well it's just that I don't have many plans either. But one of my cousins is getting married back home and I don't have a plus one yet, so I was wondering if, erm, you would like to join me. We would go to Texas and it would only be for two weeks" he said doing that thing where he scratches the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh, wow, can I have some time to think about it?" I ask, ensuring I don't imply that I'm saying yes or no.

"Yeah totally, I understand. Two weeks is quite a big chunk of our summer, so I get that you need to think about it" he replied with a smile and I return it. Thinking about it though, I guess it would be kind of fun. I've never been to Texas and would quite like to go and also, I would be able to learn something about Stefan's family since I know practically nothing about them. I've seen photos of him with what I think are his parents and brother from years ago, but there are no recent ones.

Minutes later he served me three pancakes topped with Nutella and whipped cream and one of his amazing coffees. Cutting into my stack of pancakes and placing a bite in my mouth, Stefan joined me on the island. I could not believe this, Stefan had me moaning in delight again but from his pancakes this time. I shot him a sideways glare and saw that he was trying to supress a smirk, so I playfully smacked his arm.

"Seriously is there anything you're not good at" I asked in disbelief. It was quite annoying actually, Stefan was handsome, athletic, intelligent and could cook. He was like every girl's dream guy.

"What can I say I'm a man of many talents" he said, and I rolled my eyes, but then he leaned into me and whispered in my ear, "trust me, Elena, you'd be surprised what other talents I have that will have the same effect on you". The vibration of his voice travelled right through me and reverberated at my centre. I gulped and tried my hardest to think of a response. Luckily for me, I was saved by the bell when someone interrupted our moment and knocked on the door. Stefan pulled away and I missed the warmth of his presence. He opened the door and was met by a stunning blonde girl, who had the most tanned skin. My heart sank as I thought it was another one of Stefan's hook ups, but then he threw his arms around her.

"Lexi, I've missed you so much. Wait, what are you doing here?" Stefan asked the girl with sheer joy on his face.

"I'm here to visit you silly. Since you haven't bothered coming home to visit after leaving for college, I thought I would just come here to you" Lexi said to Stefan. She turned her head and caught sight of me and smiled. Pushing past Stefan, she said, "Who's this Stefan?"

"Oh yeah, sorry, Lexi meet Elena, Elena meet Lexi" Stefan replied.

"Ohhhh, so this is the famous Elena that you've been telling me about over the phone. Well it's lovely to meet you Elena" Lexi said with a hint of mischief in her eyes that made me smile. Stefan glared at her as if to say, 'shut up', had Stefan really been telling his friend about me? Shrugging it off for now, I listened to Lexi as she started telling me all kinds of stories about Stefan that made me laugh and made him hide his face in embarrassment. Lexi was so nice, and it was nice to see a part of Stefan's past. I couldn't wait to know more.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: I'm sorry to those who have been following and reading my story for not posting for a few days, it's just I have been busy celebrating leaving school. Next week I have another busy week as I'm having my official leavers day and prom so probably won't be able to post much or at all. However, I will try. Just to let you know, I have more ideas for other stories but don't want to start them yet because I want to upload consistently and at the moment I can't guarantee that. Hope you all understand and enjoy this chapter.**

{Elena's POV}

Lexi had been staying with us for the past few days now, and I have to say she is amazing. I don't think I've ever seen her without a smile on her face. Thanks to her, I know so much more about Stefan. They have so many stories about their past together, they're constantly trying to embarrass each other and it's hilarious. She told be about the time Stefan was so convinced he was Superman that he jumped off the roof and broke his arm, so in retaliation he told me the story about when Lexi got so scared by a horror movie she wet herself. But it's not only Lexi's personality that's so special, it's the impact her presence has on him, he seems more relaxed and natural rather than the panty dropping smooth talker. I'm glad he has someone like that in his life I think, trying to tell myself I'm not slightly envious that I don't have the same effect on him.

We decided to take Lexi to the Grill since it was her last night with us. Caroline wasn't feeling so good, which meant it was me, Stefan, Lexi and Nik. Lexi being the social butterfly that she is, easily fell into conversation with Nik and other students at the Grill, and boy could she hold her drink. Every now again, she was either ordering cocktails or rounds of shots and they weren't having any effect on her or Stefan or Nik for that matter. I wasn't planning on getting drunk anytime soon, so I had to refuse. We were all sat in our booth until Nik challenged Stefan to a game of pool.

"Excuse us ladies, it looks like I've got to go and kick Nik's ass yet again" Stefan said with that smirk that I wish didn't turn me on.

"Yeah, yeah whatever" Nik replied rolling his eyes, making me and Lexi laugh. The boys made their way over to the pool table and Lexi turned to me.

"So, are you gonna tell me what's going on between you and Stefan?" she asked me in a questioning tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about" I lied whilst blushing.

"Oh please, I've been watching you two these past few days and it's so obvious. I see the way you look at him and I see the way he looks at you. Elena, you can trust me, so just tell me the truth" she said and smiled sincerely. I sighed knowing I couldn't hide my feeling for much longer.

"I guess things between Stefan and I have changed a lot these past few weeks. I mean I used to despise him, and then I didn't, but then I caught him in bed with another girl when I was going to tell him how I felt, and then I moved in with him. The thing is, I'm scared. I'm scared of what I feel for him because it's so unpredictable and strong, I've been feeling a rollercoaster of emotions. When I feel myself slipping and feeling for him, I have to tell myself off because of his past and the fact that I have to protect myself because if he hurt me, I'm pretty sure it would break me. Then there's also the fact he wouldn't even give me a second look" I spit out in a massive tornado of words.

"Woah, okay. Listen Elena, I know Stefan better than anyone on this Earth. I know his past with girls is by no means perfect or even good, but Stefan has been through a lot and lost a few people along the way. He has these walls built up so high to avoid letting anyone get close to him and that's why I think he does what he does. If he just sleeps around with girls, he's able to escape emotional connections whilst also avoiding being lonely. In the past he's put trust in people, who ended up letting him down, so he just detaches himself. But with you, he has let his guard down completely, which I've seen him do very few times. Believe me when I say this, your feelings for Stefan are not a one-way thing. Elena, he absolutely adores you. He talks about you all the time, his face lights up whenever you enter the room or speak, and I constantly catch him staring at you with longing eyes. I'll understand if you don't completely believe me, so go see for yourself. Take him up on his offer and go to Texas with him, and you will see the real Stefan, the one I know". Lexi says with this with so much conviction and I believe her, but she's right I need to go to Texas and try and see this for myself.

"Okay, I'll go to Texas" I say and her face lights up. "You said that Stefan has been through a lot, what do you mean by that, what happened?" I question with sheer curiosity.

"It's not for me to tell, he will tell you eventually, you've just got to give him the chance". I nod and smile.

"You're totally right, I should go to Texas and give him his chance to be the real Stefan and see where it goes. If I didn't I would just be asking myself what if? Especially since I don't think I've ever felt this way about someone. Thank you, Lexi, it really does mean a lot, I'm glad Stefan has someone like you in his life" I say and she grins.

"Exactly, you don't want to have any regrets. No problem Elena, I'm glad Stefan has you in his life too, I mean someone has to tame him whilst keeping him on his toes as well" she says, and I giggle. She turns and nods her head towards him, "Look at him, what's not to love?" I stare at him and she's right, he looks so cute with his brows furrowed concentrating on the game.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was the next evening and we were at the train station, getting ready to say goodbye to Lexi, I really was going to miss her. Stefan had been quiet all morning so I knew he was really upset that she was leaving. Just as her train was arriving she pulled me into a hug.

"Remember everything I told you. You're the girl for Stefan" she whispered, and I nodded. We both pulled out of the hug and she walked over to Stefan.

"Try not to miss me too much idiot" she said wrapping her arms around Stefan and he just smiled in return, but I could still see sadness in his eyes. "You'll see me again soon" she said whilst stepping on the train. We both just nodded and smiled.

During the car ride home, Stefan had remained silent, still clearly sad that Lexi had left. Maybe now was the right time to tell him that I would go to Texas with him, maybe it would cheer him up?

"Hey Stefan? I've been thinking, and I've decided that I would love to go to Texas with you. It should be really great" I say happily and just like that his face brightens up and my heart melts.

"I'm really glad you think so too. I can't wait to show you around my home and spend some time away from college" he says with a goofy grin plastered on his face. I guess this it. This will decide whether me and Stefan will be together.


	14. Chapter 14

{Elena's POV}

After four hours of driving in the scorching summer sun, it was fair to say I've had enough. Not to mention the fact that I'm ridiculously nervous to meet Stefan's family. What if they don't like me? That would be the worst-case scenario since I'm trying to pursue Stefan, for all I know he may value their opinion and agree with them. Oh god, I wish this journey would end so I would have less time to overthink things.

"Hey, what are you so nervous about?" Stefan questions.

"How did you know?" I ask wondering how he can literally read my mind.

"You're playing with your hands and you always do that when you're nervous" he states matter of factly.

"I guess I'm just a bit nervous about meeting your family. What if they don't like me?" I ask biting my lip.

Stefan reaches over and grabs my hand for support and then says, "Elena, my family are going to love you, you have nothing to worry about". He flashes me one of his ground-breaking smiles and I swear I'm like putty in his hands.

"You really think so?" I ask whilst trying to push away the last of my insecurities.

"Of course" he says with certainty, but then his face switches to a mischievous smirk. "Hey, they'll just be glad I'm not a complete loner". I giggle and silently thank him for his reassurance.

XXXXXXXXXX

Before I know it, we're pulling up and heading down a long driveway to this huge, classic country house that is surrounded by fields of greenery. This is like some sort of dream house, there are no neighbours for at least a quarter of a mile down the road and it's just perfect. Wow, Stefan's family must have quite a bit of money, how did I not know this?

"I'm just gonna get the bags later after we've said hi to everyone. You ready?" he asks with a cute little smile.

"Okay that's fine and yeah I am" I say returning his smile.

We walk round the side of the house, as it has a massive open garden that surrounds it, and I start to hear people talking. As we round the final corner to get to the back of the house, all I can see is people. There are like 30 sat in the garden, there is no way that all of these people are Stefan's immediate family.

"Uncle Stefan!" I hear some people from the crowd shout.

Stefan begins striding forward with a grin on his face as two little ones come running towards him, they're so adorable. There's a little boy with light brown hair and green eyes just like Stefan's who looks around seven years old and then the little girl has blonde curly locks and blue eyes who looks the same age as the boy. As they meet, Stefan picks them up and spins them round making them giggle uncontrollably. Stefan sets them on the ground again but kneels so he is eye level with them.

"How are my favourite niece and nephew. I've missed you guys" Stefan elates with the brightest smile on his face.

"Good" they both say at the same time. "Who's that?" the girl says shyly hiding behind Stefan.

"Guys this is Elena and I want you to be very kind to her because she's very special". He turns to me and I'm blushing. "Elena, this little guy is Beau and this little gal is Taylor".

"Uncle Stefan is Elena your girlfriend" Beau blurts out, obviously not as shy as his sister. God, he's so like Stefan, I can already tell.

I kneel down so that I'm the same height as them. "No, I'm your Uncle Stefan's friend. It's very nice to meet you" I say with a smile. Beau and Taylor both smile and then lunge at me giving me a warm hug and I have to stifle a laugh. Beau pulls out of the hug and shouts something excitedly whilst they both run over to the crowd, who have all spotted me and Stefan. We both get up and begin walking over to greet the rest of them. I meet so many cousins, aunts and uncles it's hard to keep track of but I'm not greeted with any parents or siblings of Stefan's. So far, Stefan's family seem so loving and amazing, not a single one of them has made me feel uncomfortable

"What's all this noise?" an elderly yet stunning woman asks as she exits the kitchen and walks onto the decking. But then her question is answered as she sees Stefan. She strides over to Stefan with happiness written all over her face.

"Hey Grandma" Stefan says with his arms wrapped round her. They pull out of the hug and she smacks him on the side of the head making everyone laugh. "Owwww, what was that for?" Stefan shrieks looking at her in disbelief.

"That is for not visiting home ever since you left for college. Now that's out of the way, where is this friend of yours?" she asks Stefan. With a pout on his face, he points over to me.

"Mrs Salvatore it's lovely to meet you" I say extending my hand.

"Oh please, Elena darling call me Grace" she says pulling me to a hug. "Now Stefan you are going to carry all of your bags to your old room, where you'll be staying and I'm going to give Elena a tour of our land" she says in a warm yet stern voice. I have to stifle my laugh as Stefan dirty looks me and mumbles something whilst Grace leads me away.

As we walk, we fall into light conversation as she asks about my background and what I'm studying and what my plans for the future are. We enter the stables, and it's a beautiful sight. There are three stunning horses in their separate pens. Grace walks over to one and begins to stroke it so I follow and do the same.

"You mean a lot to him you know?" Grace asks me out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?"

"You mean a lot to Stefan, I can tell. He was gushing about you over the phone, so I thought you might be special but now that you're here it's obvious how much you mean to him" she says with a smile.

"That's good because he means a lot to me too" I reply and it widens her smile.

"Hmmm, I remember what it was like to be young and in love" she says turning her attention to the horse. I cough at her response.

"Erm, me and St-Stefan in love? I don't think so" I sputter out like a fool, and this makes her laugh.

"Well I think so, you know Elena, you're the first girl Stefan has ever brought home, which means he trusts you. After his parents died, Stefan had a hard time letting anyone in, but he seems to have opened up to you without a second thought. I'm not stupid, I've lived long enough to know when two people have feelings for each other and that's you and Stefan, otherwise you wouldn't be here" she states with pride. Damn it, what is it with these Salvatores being so perceptive and knowing what I'm thinking and feeling.

"Maybe you're right. Stefan never told me about his parents, I'm sorry for your loss" I say in a quieter voice.

"There's no need to apologise sweetheart it is what it is. We can't dwell on the past but we can decide and look forward to the future, which is what I think you should do with Stefan" she says with a cheeky grin that makes me smile I return.

"Hmmmm I guess so".

"Come on Elena we better head back so you can eat and get some sleep after that long drive".

Walking back to the house, it seems like most of Stefan's family have headed home or headed to bed, but I can see Stefan on the decking, talking to an older man I didn't see before.

"Elena this my husband and Stefan's Grandpa Theo" Grace says.

He stands up and says, "Aaaahhh so this is the lovely Elena that Stefan is besotted with, well it's lovely to meet you sweetheart". I blush and say hi back.

"Come on dear let's leave these young one's alone" Grace says to Theo as they make their way into the house. "Goodnight you two" I look at Grace and she smiles and winks. I turn and sit down next to Stefan, there was already a bowl of pasta waiting for me.

"So how did your talk with my Grandma go? She didn't interrogate you too much did she?" Stefan asks with a smirk.

"No, she didn't, she was lovely just like the rest of your family". What I've said makes him smile.

"Well I'm glad you've settled in" he says and yawns. "I'm beat, I'm heading up to bed, you coming?" he asks and I nod.

Climbing up the stairs, we get to the top floor and arrive at his room, which must be an attic conversion, and he turns to me with an unsure look on his face. "I forgot to tell you. Since a lot of my family, who don't live nearby are staying here, it means we're both in my room and there's only one bed. Don't worry I'll take the couch" he whispers.

"Stefan don't be ridiculous, it's no big deal, we can share a bed" I whisper back and he raises his eyebrows in surprise but then turns back around and enters his room. Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't made any jokes about getting me into bed. Lexi was right, there is a different side to him and so far, I'm liking this Stefan. He goes into his en-suite as we get changed into pyjamas. When he walks back in, I'm already tucked in, so he slides in next to me. I already love this bed it's so soft and smelled like Stefan. I gulp because I can feel his eyes on me, so I raise my look and I'm met with a lazy smile.

"What are you smiling about Salvatore?" I tease with a smirk.

"I'm just happy you came that's all" he replies and it's so cute I just wanna lean over and kiss him.

"I'm happy too" I say with a small smile. "Oh, I, erm, I'm sorry about your parents, I had no idea". When I say this, his smile immediately falters, and I silently curse myself for bringing it up.

"Don't be, it was a long time ago and yeah it was hard, but life moves on. Just because they're not here, doesn't mean they're not with me" he replies, and his lazy smile returns. "Night, Lena".

"Goodnight Stefan".


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note: Sorry for not updating the story for a few days. To make up for it, this chapter is much more longer than all of the others and let's just say it's finally happened. Hope you enjoy** **?**

{Stefan's POV}

Rays of light are streaming through the window as I begin to wake up. After hours of travelling yesterday I'm still exhausted and decide that a little extra sleep won't cause too much harm other than my Grandma calling me lazy. But, as I breathe, I feel a weight on my bare chest that rises and falls with each intake of breath. I open my eyes half curiously and half groggily to find Elena's head tucked under my chin in the crook of my neck whilst her torso rests on mine and all the while our legs are tangled together. Due to the scorching Texas weather, I was only wearing shorts and she was wearing mini shorts and a tank: the skin on skin contact was driving me crazy. Not to mention the scent of her apple shampoo that was radiating from her luscious long hair and sending my senses into overdrive. Her arms were wrapped around me, one of her hands was resting on my abs, as my left arm was slung lazily around her waist, keeping her close to me. I'd longed for a moment like this with Elena for too long, this closeness we were sharing was perfect but not totally real. I should probably wake her up because if she was awake and saw our position she would probably freak out and start calling me all the names under the sun. But for some stupid reason, I can't bring myself to do it, if I did, then I know I would regret it. So, I decide to just stay here and enjoy it while it lasts. About ten or fifteen minutes pass until I feel Elena begin to stir and I gulp with nervousness at the impending telling off I was about to receive. Her body shifts a little and freezes making me wince, but I just keep my eyes closed pretending to be asleep, so I can possibly avoid the wrath of Elena. Then seconds later, to my surprise, I feel her body relax and then snuggle closer to mine, I literally have to stop myself from celebrating, so I don't ruin the moment and instead I just smile. Does this mean she feels the same way? I mean why would she wake up and then continue to lay there wrapped in my embrace? Ignoring all of these questions flowing through my head, I make the choice to remain calm and drift off back to sleep with Elena in my arms because it's all I could ever ask for.

{Elena's POV}

I know it might be a stupid decision to stay cuddled up to Stefan like this since we haven't even talked about the possibility of us, but I can't help it. Everything about our embrace just feels right, like we fit together. Not to the mention the fact he's comfy and warm like a teddy bear, so who am I to deny this opportunity? But then just like everything else that happens between me and Stefan, something gets in the way. Stefan and I both shoot up from our slumber after there is a loud booming knock at the door. Catching our breath, we turn to look at each other, both of us wide eyed.

"Are you two decent in there?" I hear Grace yell from the other side of Stefan's door.

"Erm, yeah Grandma" Stefan stutters still panting from his shock awakening.

"Good" she says as she enters the room, as she takes in the sight of me and Stefan looking all flustered she smirks and says, "Hmm I've been shouting on you two to come down for breakfast for ages, you must have sleeping oh so well".

"Yeah, we, um, we must have" Stefan stutters once again whilst shooting me an awkward sideways glance.

"Anyway, you two should get breakfast before it gets cold" Graces states whilst leaving the room and Stefan agrees. He leaves the bed and grabs some clothes and then enters his bathroom to get dressed. When I'm certain the door is closed, I flop down onto the bed and bury my head in my hands trying to muffle my groan.

XXXXXXXXXX

We headed down the stairs and to the kitchen that was joined to the grand dining room. It was now 11am and I couldn't help but feel rude for sleeping in so late, when breakfast had been served ages ago.

"Grams, where is everybody?" Stefan asked confused.

"Well Stefan not everybody is lazy like you, some people can get up at a decent hour. Besides there is a wedding to prepare so people are busy, or they have gone out and are visiting friends since they moved away, like your Uncle Ric for example, he's visiting some of his friends from high school who still live here" Grace says and Stefan nods. "Now Elena sweetie, help yourself to breakfast, it's all laid out and ready. I'm leaving to go help with wedding preparations now and I don't think I'll be back until later. So, Stefan, why don't you take Elena into town and show her around".

"Sure Grandma" Stefan says not daring to challenge his Grandma. As she leaves Grace turns to me and winks making me smile in return. I'd only been here like 14 hours but I already adored Stefan's Grandma, I think it's hilarious how she's stern with Stefan and then sweet to me. She's more jokingly stern with Stefan rather than mean and I can tell he knows that too.

"Right Gilbert, eat up we've got a busy day ahead of us" Stefan chirps and I grin.

{Stefan's POV}

After a 20-minute drive in my truck, we arrived into town. It wasn't anything to shout about, but it was home, and I loved it. Since we were mainly in the countryside, there was only a few restaurants and a handful shops and the rest of the buildings in town were important businesses. I guess you could say it was a nice little area, that looked like it had been pulled out of a film because it was so scenic and due to the fact, it had a stunning water fountain right in the town centre.

Doing my best guy impression as I parked the car, I turned to Elena and said, "So this is it". Elena just rolled her eyes at me and then we both got out of the car. She came skipping round to my side looking really excited.

"Whatever Salvatore, whether you like it or not, you and I are going to have fun today" she demanded grabbing my arm and dragging me along.

After visiting every shop and buying gifts for Nik and Caroline, taking photos of everything she thought was "picturesque" which included me by the way, eating snacks from every restaurant and café, making me promise to take her to the retro movie theatre and to the mini golf park, throwing money into the fountain making a wish and walking around the town at least three times, Elena was finally satisfied there was nothing left in the town to do. Well other than the movie theatre and mini golf park that we decided to leave for another day. I checked my watch and it was already 5pm, God time really does fly when you're having fun. Obviously, growing up here I had already seen everything there was to see in this town especially since nothing had changed since I left for college, but still I agreed to do it all over again because I could see how happy it made Elena. All day I found my self just staring at her in admiration and sometimes she would catch me and blush.

"So, what now Stefan?" Elena says interrupting my thoughts.

"Well I guess we should head back, I don't want to give my Grams another reason to take a dig at me if we miss dinner" I joke making her laugh.

{Elena's POV}

We arrive back at the Salvatore family house around 5:30 hoping we didn't miss dinner. Today with Stefan, well it was amazing, we had so much fun and I love this place, it's so beautiful. I couldn't help myself, I kept having to pull my camera out and take pictures, also snapping a few of Stefan along the way, which made him laugh and even blush a little. This Stefan that I've seen over the last day and a half, is more incredible than I ever imagined. I mean I was already falling for the old Stefan, never mind this one. This one had my head spinning and heart thumping whilst I fell head over heels. All day I had caught him staring at me, but it wasn't a lustful gaze or freakish look, it looked more like happiness and admiration than anything else. Every time I caught him staring at me I blushed, and my stomach flipped. He's been acting like this for a while now, he's been acting differently but more noticeably since I moved in with him weeks ago. Whilst being carried away by my thoughts we walk into the house and it appears as though we are home alone.

"Stefan and Elena, sorry I forgot to tell you that tonight the family is attending a ball held by the family of the bride, don't worry you'll get to meet them soon. There's plenty of food for you to make dinner. Hope you had a good day, love Grams" Stefan says reading a note left by his Grandma. "Well it looks like it's just me and you, don't worry I'll do the cooking and you can, um, I don't know, sit and watch?" he teases with a smirk.

"Seriously Stefan, I'm not that bad at cooking, please let me help" I beg with a pout. He sighs and mutters 'fine' and then turns around and starts pulling things out the fridge.

"Right I'm going to grill the chicken, you're going to chop the veg and then we will both make the sauce although it will be mostly me since I know what I'm doing" he states matter of factly and I roll my eyes.

After about two hours, we've finished preparing and eating the food we cooked and oh my god it was delicious, Stefan really was talented in the kitchen. During dinner he had been kind of quiet and awkward, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was, so I decided I would just ask him. Before I had the chance to ask, he got up and collected our plates and glasses to go and clean up.

"Hey, I'll help" I say as he walks over to the sink, we still had to clean up all the pots and pans from when we were making the food.

"No, it's okay I've got it" he replied nonchalantly.

"No Stefan, I'll help, there's a lot to clean up" I insist, and he just sighs and turns away from me trying to busy himself in cleaning up.

"Stefan what's up with you? You've been acting differently lately. Is there something wrong?" I ask softly.

"No, I'm totally fine" he lies, and I can tell he is lying because he's chewing the inside of his lip.

"Stefan you don't need to lie, you can tell me" I say softly and look at him directly in the eyes and his stern façade falters and he lets out an exasperated sigh.

"You're right there is something wrong, but the worst thing is I don't even know if it is wrong" he says frowning in confusion at his own words.

"Well let's just start with you telling me what the problem is".

"It's more like who the problem is" he replies.

"Okay, so elaborate" I encourage him and give him a reassuring smile, but he still seems hesitant.

"It's a girl" he whispers and looks down. I swear my heart drops, oh god, he feels something for some other girl and this whole time I've been thinking we stood a chance. I brush my obvious issues aside and continue to try and solve the issue, not only to help him but also for my own curiosity.

"Well, um, what's happened? Who is it?" I say with a shaky tone, wishing that my voice never cracked when I said 'who'.

"You know what it doesn't matter. Forget I mentioned it" he says and turns back around.

"No!" I shriek loudly, and he turns around gaping at me. "Whoever this girl is, I'm guessing you feel something for her since you've never acted this way before, so you should probably tell her", I've started raising my voice now out of frustration.

"It's not that easy" he also raises his voice in challenge.

"Bullshit, of course it is. God, this is the problem with guys. You've got these stupid, huge egos and think that it's embarrassing to tell girls how you really feel, so then you just let them slip through your fingers time and time again. The miscommunication is so annoying! Little do you know she might be feeling the exact same, but you've got too much pride to be honest. Grow up and tell her Stefan" I yell and pray he doesn't realise that I'm speaking about my exact feelings not just on behalf of girls in general. When did things become so heated?

"Oh, okay so you want me to tell her?" he shouts, and I glare at him as if he's stupid.

"Yes" I snap back fiercely.

"Fine" he replies. He stalks over to me and grabs my face and crashes his lips against mine in searing kiss. I freeze in the moment and don't know what to do, I don't return the kiss, but I also don't step back or push him off. When he senses that I'm not replying to his kiss he pulls away and backs off with a worried expression on his face.

"Elena, I, I'm so so sorry that was so out of order. Ple-please forgive me" he blurts out.

"Just shut up for a second" I say. He nods and with that I walk over to him and grab his face and pull his lips back to mine. He responds immediately and wraps his arms around my waist, I feel him smile into the kiss and the smile transfers onto my lips. At first the kiss was slow and sensual but after pent up longing for each other it begins to grow more fervent and desperate, his hands begin to roam but not in a possessive way more like in a passionate way. God, he's a good kisser, no an amazing kisser, he knows exactly what to do at exactly the right time. As time moves on, I become needy for more contact and start tugging at the bottom of his shirt. He parts our lips and presses his forehead against mine as we breath heavily.

"Elena wait" he says gasping for air. Oh no, he thinks he's made a mistake, he doesn't want me. Just the thought of that makes me feel sick to my stomach and I open my eyes and they meet his and he must see the panic in them. "No Elena, it's nothing like that. I want you so badly that it hurts. But if we carry on I won't be able to stop and you're different to other girls. I don't want to just take you to bed at the first chance I get. I want to take it slow and do all of the things that a real relationship includes like dates, movie nights and all the rest of it. When I fall asleep, I want to wake up knowing you'll be the first thing I see. I want to be able to just hold you and talk to you. God, I sound like a total sap. But the most important thing is that I want all of it with you" he finishes, and I have tears in my eyes.

"Thank God. I want all of that with you too, Stefan" I say, and he smiles and leans down to peck me on the lips. "You're right, we should take this slow and do it right especially since all of this will be very new". He nods and takes both of my hands into his. "Soooooo, what now?" I ask with a goofy grin on my face.

"Well Miss Gilbert, will you do me the honour of accompanying me on a date tomorrow?" he says in a posh voice that makes me giggle.

"I would love to Mr Salvatore" I return the joke, making him laugh as well.

"Right Miss Gilbert, I don't know about you but I'm very tired after today's events and I'm going to need my sleep for tomorrow, so are you coming to bed?"

"Trying to get me into bed already, I thought you were a gentleman" I say in fake shock and slap his arm. I know I'm in trouble when he raises his eyebrows and then narrows his eyes at me. I take off running up the stairs giggling and just as I'm about to get to his room (the only room) on the top floor, he wraps his arms around from behind. He playfully growls in my ear.

"I seem to recall having you in my bed last night and judging by the way you were snuggled up to me, you didn't mind at all" he says in my ear whilst still holding me and I blush at his comment. "But no seriously, there will be no funny business on my behalf. I just want to hold you and steal a few kisses now and again". I turn around in his arms and wrap my arms around his neck whilst on my tip toes, I leave a light kiss on his lips.

"Mmmm, I would like that" I whisper just millimetres from his lips. Turning around, I open his bedroom door and we walk in and a few minutes later we're settled into bed. I decided to slip on one of his shirts and he made a comment about how it looks better on me than it ever looked on him. I'm fully cuddled into him resuming the position we were in this morning and I'm so much more at peace with everything. I feel like a weight has been lifted of my shoulders. Stefan must be able to sense I'm slipping into sleep because he wishes me goodnight and kisses the top of my head.

"Goodnight Stefan" I mumble incoherently, which makes him chuckle lightly. I sigh contently and let sleep take me away.


	16. Chapter 16

{Elena's POV}

After waking up wrapped in each other, it was ridiculously hard to get out of this bed this morning. Normally I'm the one who is a nightmare to get out of bed, but this morning Stefan just would not give in. Even though we woke up at seven, it took us two hours to actually get up and get dressed for breakfast. No matter how many times I told him to get up, he would just mumble something and pull me tighter to him or if I got up and tried to leave he would leap up grabbing me and pulling me back to bed and start kissing me until I forgot about breakfast and everything else. It's not like I put up much of a fight, all it would take was one kiss from Stefan and he would have me hook, line and sinker. In the morning, he was so chilled and playful and not to mention his hair was ruffled, which I loved.

Now, we were sat at breakfast with his Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, Uncle and some of his cousins, who were with their wives and husbands, no wonder the house was full, Stefan's family was huge. It was his cousin, Harry, that was getting married to his fiancé, Amara, I met them the other day and they seemed so in love. All of Stefan's family were so lovely and welcoming, I already felt as though I was at home.

"So, what's everyone up to today?" Stefan asked.

"Well Beau and Taylor are playing in a soccer tournament today in about an hour so a few of us are going to watch them and the rest will still be planning this wedding" Grace responded.

"Well I'll come and watch them. They play for the Timberwolves right?" Stefan said and Grace nodded. "Good someone has got to continue my legacy" Stefan said cockily and winked. This made his Grandpa and Uncle chuckle whilst it made his Grandma roll her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Okay, we'll see you there" Stefan shouted to his Grandpa and Uncle as we got into his truck getting ready to go watch Beau and Taylor. It was quite funny how most of them men in the family were doing whatever they could to busy themselves to avoid being sucked into wedding preparations. Stefan started the truck and began driving, I noticed his hand was resting lazily on the console between us, so I reached across and intertwined or hands. He smiled and brought my hand to his lips and placed a light kiss on it.

"Stefan, I've been wondering, are we gonna tell your family about us? I mean it's gonna be hard to hide it" I said in curiosity. Even if we were to tell them, what would we say? It's not like we've put a label on anything yet because this is all so fresh.

"Well, I don't think we need to sit them down and explicitly tell them. But, that also doesn't mean I'm gonna avoid any close contact with you in front of them. I guess over time, they'll be able to figure it out themselves. Right now, I just want to take it as it comes, and spend as much time with you as possible" he said and turned to me smiling.

"That's fine by me" I said and leaned over kissing him on the cheek.

Soon we had pulled up to the local high school, where the tournament was being held. I noticed Stefan had paused and was just looking around, this must be his old school and it must have been a little weird for him being back.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, it's just strange to be back here at my old stomping grounds" he teased and smirked at me. I just rolled my eyes and told him we should go.

Stefan spotted the Timberwolves team immediately from the colour of their dark red and black jerseys and we began walking over to them to watch them train before their first game. Beau and Taylor noticed their Uncle Stefan and me and began waving excitedly. One of the coaches also noticed Stefan's appearance and his face lit up as he came walking over.

"Stefan Salvatore, back at Beaumont High, it's good to see you" the Coach said, happiness prominent on his face. Stefan and the coach shook hands. Huh, I'm guessing Beau must have been named after the town.

"Good to see you too Coach. Yeah, I'm back visiting family for a wedding. Oh, this is Elena by the way" Stefan said introducing me.

"Nice to meet you Elena I'm Coach Jameson. I don't know if you know but Stefan over here is a Beaumont legend".

"Oh, really?" I asked smirking at Stefan.

"Yep, he was our star player in soccer and football, but was also really talented in baseball and basketball as well. He won us our state championships for the soccer and football team and still holds the records for most touchdowns and goals scored in a season" Coach Jameson said with pride. "You were and still are the greatest player I've ever seen in my time. Anyways how is college ball treating you?"

"Thanks Coach. College ball is pretty good so far, we've won a few championships so far and are hoping to win more in the years to come. How come your coaching little league now?" Stefan questioned.

"Well I still Coach varsity in high school, but I help out with the little league during the Summer. Beau and Taylor are good you know? Taylor is by the far the best player in the girls' team and I reckon Beau could maybe give you a run for your money when he's in high school" he said raising his eyebrows trying to tease Stefan.

"Hmmm we'll see about that" Stefan said with confidence.

"Right I better get back to the team. Have a nice day and I'll hopefully see you around" the Coach said and turned around walking back to his team whilst me and Stefan said bye.

"Well it looks like someone was a sports superstar back in their day, huh?" I mused wrapping my arms around his waist.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head and replied, "I still am a sports superstar babe". Just him using the word 'babe' sent a ripple through my body, it was so sexy, but I didn't have time to think about that now, especially since I was at a children's soccer tournament and it was kick off for Beau's first game. Stefan was so engrossed every game and was shouting his words of wisdom to Beau and Taylor as we switched between their teams.

After a couple of hours, the tournament was over and both of Beau and Taylor's teams won by far, not to mention Beau collected an extra trophy for top goal scorer of the day, maybe the Coach was right when he said that in a few years he could give Stefan a run for his money. Stefan's cousin, Jack and his wife, Carly, were the parents of Beau and Taylor and were taking them out for a victory meal. They asked if we wanted to come, but Stefan went over and whispered something to them, which made them nod and smile at me. Whilst his family walked over to their cars and began to go home, Stefan walked over to me and offered me his hand, I took it and began following his lead.

"Stefan, where are we going?" I asked in curiosity.

"First I wanna have a quick look inside my old school and then the second part is a little surprise" he said grinning at me. He was way too adamant and stubborn, so I knew there was no point interrogating him on what the surprise is.

We headed past a few classrooms and through the corridors until Stefan got to his desired destination. At the last turn there was a long corridor, that had the biggest trophy cabinet I had ever seen. It was filled with sports, performing arts and academic trophies from bottom to top. But the only ones that caught Stefan's attention were the sports ones. Before he got to the trophies from his era, he pointed to a framed photo from 1992 that had the state championship winning football and cheerleading team. In the centre of the photo up on everyone's shoulders, was what looked like captain of the football team and the head cheerleader.

"That's my mom and dad" he smiled sadly pointing to the couple being lifted by their teams. "My dad was captain of the football team and that was the night when his team won the state championship for the first time in senior year. My mom was up there celebrating too because the cheerleading team had won the championship just the week before".

I wrapped my arms around him and leaned in to him to offer comfort and said, "They look beautiful Stefan, I bet they're so proud of you". This made him smile and he turned to me and placed a chaste kiss on my lips. I decided I should cheer him up and said, "Now come on superstar, show me all of your trophies then". He chuckled and pulled me with him further along the trophy cabinet.

"Here we are, look" he said whilst pointing at four football trophies, "State champions 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and that certificate there says, 'Stefan Salvatore holds the Beaumont High record for most touchdowns in a single season as he scores 34 touchdowns in his senior year', so there you go babe, I'm a sports superstar already and you haven't even seen my awards for soccer and track" he says cockily. I go on to find out he won four state championships for soccer and saw another certificate with one of his records for 46 goals in a single season when he was in senior year. Then there were trophies he won on the track and yet another record he holds for the 100m sprint, no wonder his body is so damn good if he's that athletic.

"I have to say I'm impressed Salvatore, but what about basketball and baseball?" I question trying to wind him up.

"Well, there were no state championships for them, but we did win a few tournaments here and there. Football and soccer were my main focuses, since I was the captain of both teams".

"I'd like to see you play sometime" I respond, and we start waking back to the truck. "I mean since you and I didn't particularly get on last year, I never came to any of your games, I just saw your face and name in the student magazine's sport section".

"Hmm yeah. Don't worry there's still plenty of time in junior and senior year for you to come watch my games and there will be pep rally's and stuff. Oh, and there's the end of season awards and you can be my first date, I've never taken a girl to one of those award ceremonies before" he said planting another kiss on my lips.

"I would love that" I say and climb back into his truck. Once we're both in I turn and say, "So, what's this surprise you've got planned?"

"It's our first official date" he replies with that signature smile and then starts his truck.


	17. Chapter 17

{Elena's POV}

After Stefan said we were going on our first official date, I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face and even though we already pretty much knew each other, I couldn't help but be nervous either. Stefan obviously sensed my nerves because he reached across and grabbed my hand. God, why does he have to be so perfect?

Before I knew it, we pulled into a parking spot in the town square. Stefan hopped out of the truck and came around to my side opened the door and offered me his hand to climb out. I took it gladly and we continued to walk hand in hand through the town centre.

"Well, here we are" Stefan said as we stopped outside of this small but beautiful Italian restaurant on the corner.

"How come I never seen this place the other day when we came to town?" I asked baffled because I was certain I had dragged Stefan to every shop, café and restaurant there was in this town.

"Hmmm, well I may have been directing you away from this place because I wanted us to have our first proper date here" he said with a sheepish grin and looked down at the ground. In reply, I just smiled and pulled him into the restaurant.

Before we ordered, Stefan and I fell into light conversation about his past in this town and the future plans that were taking place over the next week or so. The waiter came over and took our order, I went for spaghetti Bolognese and Stefan ordered a pizza, since we were both still 19 there was no way we could get away with ordering wine so we both agreed on lemonade. Our light conversation continued as we ate our food, this date was perfect there was nothing I could do to fault it, I'm sat here eating amazing food with an amazing guy, so I have nothing to complain about. Stefan being the guy he is and me being the slow eater I am meant that he finished his pizza way before I finished my pasta. As I was eating my pasta, I could feel Stefan's eyes burning into me. I looked up to find him sat there with his head propped up on his hand as he gazed at me, he looked so serious and I couldn't help the flush of red that came to my cheeks.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I nervously giggled.

"How am I looking at you?" he questioned, deciding to play the game. I could tell he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Intensely. Not gonna lie Salvatore it's freaking me out, you've never looked at me like that before" I gulped and almost laughed at my failed attempt to play the game.

"Well maybe that's because I don't have to hide it anymore" he said making me furrow my brows in confusion. "Now that you're my girl, I can look at you as if you're the most beautiful girl in the world and I can stare and admire you all I want" he said, and his voice was rough and yet so silky. He really is a smooth talker. All it takes is two sentences to come out of his mouth and here I am blushing and swooning. In disbelief at his words and due to the fact I was blushing again, I looked down at my plate and started playing with my food. However, Stefan reached across and hooked his finger under my chin and lifted my head, so I was facing him again. This time he was looking at me more softly, like he was looking at me in adoration, his eyes were still that gorgeous emerald green and his lips were turned up in a light smile. That was it, I couldn't stop myself, I wanted to kiss him. So, I edged out of my chair slightly and began to lean over the table slowly whilst maintaining eye contact with Stefan. To my pleasure, Stefan leaned over the table too, but faster than I did and met me halfway with his lips. It was a soft and gentle, lingering kiss that was fuelled by emotions rather than just desire, it made my head spin and all of the butterflies in my stomach disappear. It lasted about ten seconds before we both broke away smiling, I mean if it lasted much longer, we would be putting on quite the show for the rest of the restaurant.

"So, Gilbert, what I wanna know is, when did you realise you had feelings for me?" he asked cockily as if it was unbelievable that I would ever admit I felt for something for him. I rolled my eyes but decided to play along.

"Well, ever since we met in freshman year, I found you attractive and felt this pull towards you" I say, and he nods with a smile on his face urging me to continue. "But since we never really got along that well, I never felt the need to make romantic advances towards you especially since you were the star football player that could get any girl he wanted. However, you've always been stuck in the back of my mind although I would have never admitted it. Remember that night around a month ago, when you crashed movie night and walked me home?" I asked, and he nodded. "That's when it hit me that I felt something more than frenemy for you, but the next day when you took me to the lake and we spent the day together, all these feelings came flooding in and I knew I couldn't escape them. I realised I was falling for you. But then things happened, and I had doubts, which flipped everything on it's head. Then things turned around yet again when I moved in with you and we grew closer. You know I even talked to Lexi about you and she convinced me to come to Texas with you to give the possibility of us a chance. Now here we are and it's the happiest I've been in a long time" I say smiling, which makes him smile.

"Wow looks like we've been a complicated pair" he says with a light laugh. "When you say, 'things happened', what do you mean?" he asks out of curiosity and my heart dropped.

"Well, the um, the day after the lake, I went to speak to Caroline to get some advice from her, because after realising the feelings I had for you, I sort of panicked. Caroline reassured me that I should just go for it and tell you how I feel, so we both went back to my apartment and she helped me get ready. Then I walked to your apartment and knocked on your door ready to tell you how I felt, but then the blonde waitress from the Grill answered wearing just your shirt and her panties and she told me you were busy and couldn't come to the door. That's why I ignored you for two weeks because I was hurt and wanted to protect myself" I say quietly biting my lip, so tears don't come to my eyes. I look over to Stefan, who looks like he is frozen in his position. His face had dropped out of sadness and he looks so ashamed of himself.

"Elena" he says my name in such a shaky voice, it breaks my heart. "I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry. Even when we argued all the time, it was never my intention to hurt you. But, I have, and I screwed it up. If I didn't spend the past few years acting like such an ass, then maybe things would be so different now. You have no reason to believe me after the way I've acted in the past, but please trust me when I say that you're different, and I want to be with you. I've never felt this way about anyone in my entire life. Please, please trust me" he says with so much desperation in his voice and he looks down as if he can't bare to look at me after what he did.

Now, it's my turn to reassure him, so I reach across and take his hands in mine. "Hey Stefan, look at me. Listen, none of that matters now, we can't change the past. It's not like we were together then. Since it happened, you've changed and proved to me that you can be someone, who I want more than anything to be with" I say, and he lifts his head and smiles slightly. "Anyways Salvatore, I want to know when you realised you had feeling for me" I tease raising my eyebrows, which makes him grin.

"Hmmm let me think. Similarly, to you, I found you attractive from the moment I laid eyes on you. I still remember the day that Caroline introduced you to me and Nik vividly. I remember seeing this brunette bombshell with these stunning brown doe eyes and this beautiful smile that made my head spin. So, me being the guy that I was, I tried to suss you out and when I realised you were having none of the attention or pick up lines I was laying on you it annoyed me. That's when I decided to do whatever it takes to provoke you and get your attention, even if it meant teasing you and arguing. But the truth is Gilbert, I've always had a soft spot for you regardless of what you might think. I've always known you to be honest and fiercely loyal, and that's why I trusted you and asked you to the lake that day. Like you said, after spending the day together, it hit me hard, the realisation of what I felt for you was overwhelming and yet exciting at the same time. No girl had ever had that effect on me. That's when I knew I was falling for you. Obviously, I didn't realise what had happened or what I'd done, so when you avoided me for those weeks I was pretty much heartbroken. But then you moved in with me, and you're right things changed and we grew closer. Now, I probably need to call Lexi to thank her because she convinced you to come here and I'm the happiest I've ever been since I lost my parents. That's all down to you, Elena" he says and I can feel tears forming in my eyes. "Hey, don't cry, come on let's get out of here" he says whilst walking round to my side of the table. He kneels down so he's eye level with me and caresses my face with both of his hands and then he leans in and plants a chaste kiss, which I respond to quickly.

We head back to his truck and begin the drive home. Throughout the drive, all I do is keep stealing glances at Stefan because for some reason why, I never got a chance to admire him for how he looked. He was wearing a navy t-shirt that perfectly hugged his arms, shoulders and abs, as per usual he had a pair of dark blue jeans that weren't too baggy or too loose and his signature pair of black and white vans. It was unfair how he looked good 24/7, even in the morning when everyone else on earth looks awful, there he is with his lazy grin and ruffled hair still looking like a model.

"Hey babe, like what you see?" Stefan teased, whilst raising his eyebrows in question.

"Hmm, what would you do if I said yes?" I try and say as seductively as possible biting my lip, because I know it drives him crazy when I do it.

"I wouldn't mind at all".

"Good" I say as I lean over and starting planting kisses on the corner of his mouth to tease him, I then move to his cheek, jaw and neck, where I start sucking lightly. This makes him groan and shift in his seat.

"Elena" he says in a warning tone and I simply hum in response, whilst still focussing my attention to his neck. "I'm trying to drive, so you should probably stop, it's dangerous" he says with no conviction and it makes me want to laugh.

"Well, I never thought you were one to play it safe Salvatore" I whisper in his ear, trying to seduce him further.

"Fuck" he growls and then steps on the gas, trying to get me to his room as fast as possible. The sudden change in speed makes me squeal and giggle, but it doesn't distract me enough and I continue my administration, sucking and nibbling on his earlobe.

Minutes later we arrive outside his grandparent's house and I swear I've never seen Stefan move so fast, one second, he's getting out the truck and then the next second he's throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me over to the front door.

"Stefan put me down" I manage to get out as I'm giggling uncontrollably. I take full advantage of this position to stare at his ass and give it a slap, which makes him jump.

Just as we're outside the front door, he puts me down and pushes me against it as he starts getting payback for earlier by kissing, sucking and nibbling on my neck. I can't even begin to comprehend the things Stefan is doing with his mouth, I can't stop the moan that escapes my mouth. He stops kissing my neck and lifts his head, so he's in front of my face. He's wearing his signature smirk when he leans and starts kissing me with raw passion. We're kissing with so much force, I'm starting to go light headed from the lack of oxygen.

"Stefan. Stop. Someone. Could. See. Us" I try to say but I'm interrupted by Stefan's kisses. He's showing no signs of stopping and I'm worried a member of his family could see us in any second, so I push him off and turn around to enter his house. Following me into the house, I turn my head to find Stefan smiling at me with me with mischief and I roll my eyes. He steps forward ahead of me as we walk through the house to the dining room, where we can hear his family.

"Hi, you two, did you have a nice day?" Grace asks and looks at me with a knowing smile.

"Yeah we did, but after the car ride home Elena doesn't feel too good so she's going to bed to sleep it off" Stefan lied to his family and pinched my side signalling for me to play along.

"Oh, erm, yeah those twisty country roads get me every now and again" I say. Everyone wishes me goodnight and I turn around to head to the staircase, but not before shooting a glare at him.

After a few minutes of sitting on his bed, I hear him knock at the door and then enter. He smiles at me, mischief still evident on his face, which is making it hard for me to be mad at him. I walked over to him and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What was that about?" I asked him trying to sound annoyed, deep down I knew he wasn't believing a word I was saying, he knows me too well.

"Well after your actions in the car, I had to find some way to get you alone" he says as his eyes start to cloud over with lust. However, he's showing no signs of making a move on me and I'm starting to grow impatient. I bite my lip again hoping it had the same effect as it did in his truck. But still, he won't make a move, he's just standing there looking at me. You know what? I've had enough.

"Well, you've got me alone, so why the hell aren't you kissing me Salvatore?" I ask in frustration.

Stefan didn't need to be told twice, in just seconds our lips had moulded together in a fiery kiss. His hands started in my hair, but then travelled down to my hips to pull me closer to him. I threaded my fingers in his hair and started tugging on it, which elicited a groan from him. Growing more and more heated, Stefan and I both continued grabbing at each other, trying to get as close to each other as possible. He slid his hands down to my ass and squeezed making me moan in his mouth, I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist. Stefan knew exactly what I wanted and put both of his hands under my ass to support and carry me. We flopped down onto his bed, I was still pinned beneath him as we continued kissing with as much passion as possible. Stefan moved his lips from mine and ventured to my neck and I continued running my hands through his hair. Our heavy panting filled the room and the air seemed to get ten times hotter. Everything I could see, touch and smell was Stefan, Stefan was everything. His lips continued their adventure down my neck to my chest, which was open for contact as I was wearing a low cut tank top. His lips reached just above the edge of my top, which was also just above the top of my bra and I froze. I was enjoying everything that had happened so far, but I wasn't ready to take that next step with Stefan, we aren't even officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet. Stefan sensed my hesitance immediately and brought his head back to eye level with me. He brushed my hair away from my face and kissed me on the forehead.

"I'm sorry" I whispered quietly and looked up at him since he was still on top of me.

"Hey, don't be. Things got a little heated there" he says with a nervous chuckle and rolls off me then pulls me to his side. He threads our fingers together. "We agreed to take it slow, so we will".

I push my weight on my elbow so that I'm propped up above him, I caress his cheek and lean down and kiss him on the lips.

"You're amazing, you know that right?" I ask just millimetres from his lips.

"I may have been told once or twice" he replies with a smug grin on his face. "Do you wanna watch a movie or something?" He asks and I nod in reply. He pointed over to a shelf, "That's my collection over there, go choose one".

I get up off the bed and walk over to the shelf, my eyes scan over all of the DVDs. Finding one of my favourite films, I take the disc out and put it in the DVD player and switch the TV on. The theme song to The Breakfast Club started to play as I got back into bed and cuddled into Stefan.

 **Author's note: To anyone reading, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I've had a few reviews from people telling me they really love the story, which I appreciate so much because it makes me want to write and post more chapters faster. So, please review if you're either enjoying the story or even if you dislike something about it because I will always take criticism on board. Lately I haven't been posting as quickly and consistently, which is mostly down to me being busy with celebrating leaving school and partly down to the lack of reviews, I find them to be a great motivator, so like I said your opinion would be much appreciated. Thanks xxx**


	18. Chapter 18

**_Few days later_**

{Elena's POV}

A few days had passed since our date, and I felt as though me and Stefan were growing closer and closer every minute. Waking up to him every morning is certainly something I could get used to.

Right now, I'm sat up just lounging in Stefan's bed whilst he's taking his daily morning shower. Being sat here alone whilst Stefan is just in the next room showering is making my mind start to wander. Mmmm, Stefan in the shower, I bet that's a sight to behold. I mean I've seen him shirtless, like everyday in fact since that's how he sleeps, and my god, his abs are out of this world. I can't help but imagine how he would look with the water running through his hair and then down across his body. Just thinking about it was making me hot and bothered. Thinking about this took me back to the other night when things got heated between us and then we had to stop. It's not that I don't want to have sex with him, it's actually the opposite I really, really do. However, we agreed to take it slow, which I sometimes curse myself for because it's been hard sleeping in a bed with him and making out without it going any further. When did this happen? He's supposed to be the one with no self-control not me, and so far, I can tell he's been a little frustrated, but he seems to be taking it pretty well. Maybe I'm overthinking this? I mean I'm sure Stefan and I are committed to each other, and just because we aren't totally official doesn't mean we can't have sex, right? No, I need stop, whatever happens will happen, I should just let things happen naturally.

Deciding to distract myself, I get up and start wandering around Stefan's room, looking at trophies, posters and old photos from his childhood. I lightly giggle to myself when I come across a photo of Stefan when he looked around seven and he had no front teeth and was wearing a superman costume. There was an abundance of photos of Stefan in action whilst playing all of his sports, all the way through from his first ever football game to his senior year. Despite this, there was no photos of him at college anywhere in the house and I remember his Grandma telling me he hadn't came home since leaving for college, so I decided at some point when we went back I would send Grace a bunch of photos that I took whilst we were in town the other day. I look at the other photos on his shelf and come across a few off him with a boy that looks a few years older than him, he has black raven like hair and blue piercing eyes. I wonder who this guy is, a friend maybe? No one has ever mentioned anything about a brother, but then why is this boy in photos with Stefan and his parents? My thoughts are interrupted by Stefan coming out of the bathroom.

I turn around and walk over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He leans down and kisses me.

"Mmmm, hi you" I say smiling into the kiss.

"Hey baby" he replies, and I let out a sigh of satisfaction and smile like an absolute goof. "You like it when I call you that, don't you?" I nod shyly in response and it makes him laugh. "Come on we better start getting ready, I'm taking you to play mini golf today, since you insist on doing everything in this town".

XXXXXXXXXX

Stefan had just paid for and collected our clubs, golf balls and score cards, and started making his way over to me.

"Ready to lose Gilbert?" Stefan asks cheekily.

"In your dreams Salvatore, I'm pretty good at mini golf" I reply cockily.

"Prove it" he says with confidence written all over his face.

I snatch my club and ball out of his hands and take my shot, and there we go, hole in one. I twirl around and tilt my head at him whilst raising my eyebrows. In reply, he scowls at me.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, that's only hole one there's still 20 to go" he replies in a competitive tone.

We continue playing and so far, it's been pretty even. Every other hole, Stefan tries to distract me by either running his mouth or coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist whilst kissing my cheek and neck. His attempts fail though because every time he does it, I ignore him or shrug him off.

Now, we're at the final hole and are both tied up. This is the decider.

"Well, Gilbert, I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised, but now I'm going to put the game to bed" he says smugly.

"Oh okay, willing to place a bet on it?" I ask.

"What did you have in mind?"

"If I win, then you have to call me the sports superstar and buy me ice cream" I say and shrug. After I say this, Stefan's lips turned up into a smirk.

"You're on. Hmmm, let me think, what can you do for me?" Stefan says whilst fake thinking and tapping his chin. "Ooh I know, you have to give me one of those back massages Caroline always says you're good at and buy me ice cream". I roll my eyes at his wishes and turn around to take my shot.

It's the final hole, so it's supposed to be the hardest one, however I manage to do it in three shots. Stefan confidently strolls over to the starting point and takes his first shot, and oh no, his shot is much closer to the hole than my first one was. If his next shot goes in, then he's won and if not then we're tied yet again. He lines his shot up and misses by mere inches and to my luck it rolls down the hill on the other side of the hole, making his next shot harder.

"Damn it" he yells under his breath and I giggle. "Looks like it's going to be a tie then".

"Only if you get this in Salvatore" I tease, and he mutters something under his breath.

As he's getting ready for his shot, he looks so focussed and serious. He takes his shot and it circles the hole and then rolls out, ha he missed! Standing there with his mouth gaping, he's trying to process the fact he's lost.

"Nice try Salvatore, but I do believe you need to address me a certain way and buy me ice cream" I say cockily.

In return he just narrows his eyes and me and turns around and starts walking back to return the clubs. He's storming off so fast, I have to jog to catch up, and when I do I wrap my arms around him from behind.

"Nuh uh, Salvatore, you can't get away that easily" I say, and he just ignores me as we hand the clubs back in to the front desk.

Stefan starts walking towards the truck and since he's still paying no attention to me wrapped up behind him, I put my hands on his shoulders and push on them to jump up, so that he's giving me a piggy back. He scoops his arms under my legs, so that he's carrying me properly and I tilt my head down and kiss him on the cheek making him smile. When we're just next to his truck he puts me down and turns around, so he's facing me. He sighs and pouts.

"Well I guess I should start calling you sports superstar, huh?" he asks, whilst faking sadness in his tone.

"Just this once, and then I guess I'll return the title to you" I say for the sake of pleasing him and to get him stop pouting. This makes him smile and he leans down to kiss me. "Come on we should be heading back if we're gonna make dinner, everyone's coming over for a barbeque, right?" Stefan nods in reply to my question.

XXXXXXXXXX

Pulling into the driveway, I notice a black motorcycle parked next to Grace's car. It wasn't there the night when we arrived and Stefan's whole family was here, so who does it belong to? I turned to find Stefan eying the motorcycle suspiciously with his eyebrows furrowed.

We walked around the back of the house to the garden, where the barbeque is being held and where Stefan's family are. Everyone is sat on the decking waiting for their food, Stefan's Uncle and his Grandpa Theo are grilling burgers and sausages.

"Hey, what did you get up to today?" Stefan's Aunt asked.

"I took Elena to the mini golf park" Stefan replied.

"Yeah and I kicked his ass" I chimed in, making his family laugh. Stefan looked down at me with a smirk then rolled his eyes and left my side.

As he made his way around the table he asked everyone, "Where's Grandma? Things seem a little too quiet round here?" Everyone around the table hesitated at Stefan's question. "What's going on?"

"Well Grandma's inside helping prepare some of the food" Stefan's cousin, Harry, answered tensely.

"And that's weird because?" Stefan asked suspiciously.

"She's not exactly alone" Harry answered, still with a tense posture.

"Oh, who's she with?" Stefan questioned.

But before Harry got a chance to answer Stefan's question, the dark-haired boy with the blue eyes came striding out and interrupted him.

"Hello Brother" the boy said to Stefan.

I watched Stefan as his eyes widened with anger and he turned his head slowly to come face to face with who I'm guessing is his brother.

{Stefan's POV}

Turning around slowly, I couldn't believe this was happening, I was under the impression that he wasn't attending the wedding. Even though I'm taller than him, I was still met with his menacing blue eyes as I came face to face with him for the first time in two years.

"I didn't know you were coming" I say through gritted teeth, which makes him smirk but not in a funny way.

"Well, Stefan, after all it is my family too. Anyway, I was rightfully invited" he replied.

My Grandma walked out at this point and her eyes widened at the sight of us face to face, she opened her mouth to say something but obviously couldn't find any words for the situation. I looked at her with annoyance and sadness due to the fact she knew he was coming and didn't tell me, scrap that, I'm annoyed at the fact everyone knew and didn't tell me. You know what? I'm not doing this right now. I turned my look to Damon and made sure he knew I was looking at him with disgust, before I walked past him bumping his shoulder out of the way. Storming up to my room, I heard Damon make some sarcastic comment about me. How could my family do this to me? They could have at least warned me, but no, this is why I haven't come home since leaving for college. I flopped down on my head and just stared at the ceiling until I calmed down. I heard a slight knock at the door, but didn't bother paying attention, I wasn't ready to hear any excuses. Luckily for me it wasn't a family member, it was Elena slowly edging her way over to me.

"Hey" she said softly, but I couldn't bring myself to reply since I hadn't told her the history between Damon and me. "I don't know what's gone down between you and your brother, but I'm always here if you want to talk".

I didn't know what to say, how did I get so lucky with this girl? So instead I just put my arm out and motioned her to come over to me with my head. She obliged and crawled over to me putting her head in the crook of my neck, she wrapped her arm around the back of my head and start pulling her fingers through my hair. I sighed contently at the contact and found myself calm and at peace. How is she so perfect?

"Do you have any idea how special you are Elena Gilbert?" I whispered in her ear and felt her smile against my neck.

"I do now" she whispered and pressed a kiss to my neck. She started running circles on my stomach with her finger and continued running her other hand through my hair, I turned a little and nuzzled into her side more. God, I love this girl. Wait a second, did I just? I didn't say it aloud, but I just internally admitted something I already knew. I love Elena Gilbert.


	19. Chapter 19

{Stefan's POV}

Most of my family were going crazy with preparations in the last few days leading up to wedding, so today everyone had just decided to relax. The girls including Elena were going for a spa day whilst all of the guys except Damon were going to play golf and then go to the local sports bar to watch the soccer.

As the first half of the game was drawing to a close, my mind started to wander, and I realised how much I missed Elena today. I know this girl had me turning into a total sap, but I didn't care, all I cared about was going to see her. The soccer game had been boring anyway, it was still 0-0, so I started devising a plan on how to get out of here, so I could go home to my girl. Satisfied with my excuse, I turned around to all the guys, who were drinking.

"Hey guys, I think I'm gonna go home, I'm not feeling too great, I think being out in the hot sun all day has gone to my head a bit" I say pretending to sound sick.

My Grandpa offered to drive me home, but I declined and told them to enjoy the rest of their night. I jumped into my truck and started driving home knowing it was late enough for the girls to be back from their spa day. Soon enough I was pulling into the driveway with a stupid grin on my face ready to see Elena, but as I enter the house something isn't right, it's oddly quiet. I walk around the downstairs area of the house and check the garden, but no one is here. I frown to myself and guess that they must have taken a detour. Well, that's what I think until I hear noises from upstairs. Climbing the stairs anxiously, I wonder if it's a burglar because not enough noise is being made for the girls to be home. The strange noises are coming from Damon's old room, which I guess he's staying in. I consider leaving it because it's coming from his room but decide I shouldn't because that's not the safest option.

Pushing the door open, the sight that comes to me makes my heart drop. She's on top of him and they're kissing each other like there's no tomorrow. He's sat up resting against the headboard whilst she's straddling his lap and his hands roam down her bareback, as she's only wearing a bra, to her ass. I clear my throat as loud as possible to get their attention and that's when her head whips around and our eyes meet. Her brown doe eyes scream panic whilst his face is plastered with a menacing smirk. I can't believe this has happened again. My brother has stolen the one girl I care about more than anything in this world twice now, but this time it's worse, it's my Elena. My eyes fill with tears as I turn around and slam the bedroom door. I start running through the house as fast as I can, and I can hear Elena chasing me.

"Stefan! Stefan! Stefan!" she shouts after me.

Bolting awake, my eyes scan my surroundings and I find Elena kneeling next to me on my bed. She grabs my face and rubs my back trying to calm me down as I breathe heavily. I sigh with relief when I realise that her and Damon together was just a dream, well more like a nightmare, and then I grab her and pull her into my lap holding her close to me.

"Stefan, hey, what's going on? You were twisting and talking in your sleep" she says trying to make sure I'm okay.

"Nothing's wrong, I just had a really weird nightmare" I say exasperated.

"What happened?" she asks, and I freeze realising that this conversation would lead to me telling her about what happened with Damon.

"Honestly, it's nothing" I try and say convincingly.

"Stefan if we're gonna move forward we need to be honest with each other" she says, and I sigh realising she's right.

"Well, in my nightmare I came home and found you and Damon, uh, erm, kissing" I whisper.

"No. I would, I would never do…" she stutters but I interrupt her.

"Elena, babe, I know that" I say with certainty and sigh. "Listen seeing Damon just opened some old wounds. After our parent's death, mine and Damon's relationship changed, we became more distant and he became rebellious, rude and disrespectful to my Grandparents who raised us. He became a stranger. Rather than making something of himself he just went to community college and acted like an ass there. But a lot of girls in Beaumont thought he was this ideal bad boy who ruled the world. Anyway, in senior year I had been dating this girl called Katherine, I wasn't in love with her or anything, but I had strong feelings for her and saw us having a future together. I saw myself falling in love with her, you know? Then one day after graduation, I came home earlier than expected and caught her in bed with my brother. That was it, me and my brother got in a huge fight and I swore that I would never let a girl get too close to me again, what happened is probably the reason why I just slept around in college. A week after the fight, I left for college and didn't look back. I was scared to come home, and I didn't want to in spite of everything that had happened. All I know is that, I hate him Elena, there's nothing he can do or say to make me forgive him".

"I'm so sorry Stefan. If Damon and Katherine, or whatever her name is, did that to you, then they don't deserve you. To be quite frank, she must be the most stupid girl in the world to let a guy like you go" she says and warms my heart.

"Thanks baby" I say and start kissing her.

"Not yet Stefan, we still need to discuss how you're gonna handle him being here" she tells me, and I groan flopping down on the bed pulling her with me.

"Well it's not fair for me to ruin Harry and Amara's wedding and the family reunion just because we hate each other. So, I'm just gonna avoid him at all costs and I'm not gonna let him provoke me" I say.

"Good. I'm proud of you" she says with a smile. I suddenly roll us over so that I'm on top and she giggles.

"Right that's enough talking, I'm getting bored and want to kiss you" I muse and start kissing her neck. She does nothing to protest, making me grin.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elena and I decide it's time to head downstairs and face the music. Walking hand in hand, we enter the kitchen, where we're met by my Grandma.

"Stefan I'm so…" my Grandma starts speaking but I stop her.

"Listen Grandma I don't want to talk about it. I'm not mad at you or anyone else, I just want to leave it. Whilst we're both here, I'm going to be staying out of his way as much as possible. I don't want anyone coming up to me and telling me we need to mend our relationship because it's not going to happen. He made his bed years ago and as far as I'm concerned he's no brother of mine" I say sternly, and Elena squeezes my hand in support.

"I understand Stefan, but please believe me when I'm sorry about everything that happened between you too" Grandma says with sadness in her eyes. I walk over to her and wrap her in a hug.

"You don't need to be sorry Grandma, it's no one's fault but his own".

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Two days later_**

In two hours' time, my grandma is hosting some sort of charity masquerade ball here at our house. I have no idea how she's finding the time to do all of this, I mean the wedding is in three days and here she is hosting charity balls. Elena had just left me in the lounge room to go get ready because she wanted to look good for tonight, I tried to argue that she would look good wearing anything, so she wouldn't leave me alone, but she disagreed and went upstairs.

So far, I had managed to avoid Damon pretty well. It wasn't hard since all he did was go get drunk at the sports bar whereas I was actually bothered about spending time with my family. Fair enough my parent's death hit him hard, but it hit me hard too and I needed my brother and he wasn't there. From what I can see, he's still the selfish, alcoholic dick he was all those years ago. I decide to stop wasting my time thinking of that low life and go get ready. Elena insisted that I go get dressed in the main bathroom or something because she wants to surprise me in her masquerade outfit. Truth be told I wasn't that into this kind of stuff, I agree that money goes to a great cause but why do we have to get dressed up to do it? I'll do it anyway though because it makes my Grandma happy and Elena was so excited.

Two hours have passed and I'm in the bathroom getting ready for the start of the ball. My suit is pretty simple, I'm wearing a white shirt, whilst my suit pants, suit jacket, tie, shoes and cummerbund are all black. I look in the mirror and adjust my mask, it's black, small and simple and just covers around my eyes. Although I didn't see the point in dressing up, I made sure I looked good because most of the town would be present but mostly to impress Elena. Walking down the corridor, I shout on Elena up the final staircase that leads to my room. I hear her open the door and when I look up she takes my breath away. She's wearing a simple, tight black dress that stops just above her knee, even though it's tight, it's not slutty, she looks classy. The black and red mask she borrowed only covers her eyes, similarly to mine, and I'm glad because the last thing she need is a mask covering her beautiful face. I must be gawking like a weirdo because she giggles. She makes her way down the stairs and stops in front of me giving me a twirl.

"What do you think?" she asks.

"I think that you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen" I reply and mean every word. I can't stop myself and lean down to kiss her. She responds eagerly to the kiss but then pulls away.

"Thank you. You look very handsome yourself" she says with a smile.

"Thank you. Shall we?" I say offering her my arm. Looking up at me, she smiles and wraps her arm around mine and we make our way down to the party.

{Elena's POV}

Oh my god, I swear Stefan was the most gorgeous man on this planet. How did I get so lucky? The suit he's wearing fits him perfectly. He's wearing a black mask, which allows his stunning green eyes to shine through.

Making our way through all the people at the party, we are bombarded with compliments from other guests. Everyone's eyes are on us, Stefan squeezes my hand in reassurance. Grace walks over to us with the biggest smile on her face.

"Oh my, you two look absolutely beautiful. I have to get a photo of you two" Grace exclaims.

"Thank you" I say as she ushers us into a part of the hall where photos are being taken. She pushes me and Stefan in front of the camera. We pose together as if we're taking a prom photo, it's a little embarrassing, but I don't care as long as I'm being embarrassing with Stefan.

After heading back into the lounge room, where the party was mainly being held, the music started playing and little did we know, we were apparently in the middle of the dancefloor. You Do Something To Me by Sinead O'Connor was playing and Stefan offered me his hand.

"May I have this dance?" Stefan asks with that knee weakening smile.

"Of course" I reply.

I take Stefan's hand and he twirls me immediately, and then pulls me into him. I giggle and wrap my arms around his neck whilst resting my head on his chest. He wraps his arms around my waist and we start to sway to the rhythm of the song. Everything about this moment was so perfect, I just want time to stand still so we could stay frozen in this moment forever. However, much to my dismay, the song stops, and the moment is over. I pull away to find Stefan already looking down at me, he leans down and captures my lips in his. It's soft and sweet. We're interrupted by Grace asking Stefan to help her go and collect more champagne flutes, he complies then smiles at me and walks off. I decided to go and get a drink, whilst Stefan was occupied. All of the drinks were set up outside on the decking, so I walked out of the patio doors to grab one. As I'm pouring myself a drink, I feel a presence behind me and I know it's not Stefan. I spin around, and I'm met with Damon's icy blue eyes. I feel frozen to the spot as he grabs my hand and places it to his lips.

"Elena is it? I don't believe we've been formerly introduced" he says with a smirk, but it's not a natural smirk like Stefan's, it's sleazy. His eyes rake over my body and I feel sick. I rip my hand away from his face.

"No, we haven't and for good reason too, Stefan told me everything" I spit out in disgust.

"Did he now? I think it's about time he gets over that. It's not my fault his pretty little girlfriend wanted me, every girl does" he replied cockily making me hate him more.

"I don't" I say aggressively and try to push past him, but he grabs my arm.

"I always loved the feisty ones. Trust me Elena, you can't escape what you feel for me" he whispers leaning in, and I don't know what to do so I slap him hard across the cheek.

Luckily for me, before he gets a chance to reply, Stefan arrives with concern written all over his face.

"Elena, what's going on?" Stefan asks whilst stepping in front of me protectively.

"Damon tried to make a move on me" I whisper as tears I didn't know where there ran down my face.

"Come on Elena, you were enjoying every second" Damon snarked.

"I'm going to give you three seconds to walk away" Stefan says whilst clenching his jaw.

"Or what brother? I've stolen your girl before and I'll do it again" he said and gave Stefan a light, patronising slap on the face.

That was it, Stefan snapped and tackled Damon to the ground, sending them both flying. Stefan started punching Damon in the face repeatedly, until Damon pushed him off. They both got to their feet and started swinging at each other again, each one landing punches on each other. Stefan grabbed his brother and tried to throw him over the table, but Damon dragged Stefan with him. There was glass and spilled drink everywhere. Stefan was in control again, on top of Damon and started punching him in the face again.

"Don't. Ever. Touch. Her. Again" Stefan hissed out between punches.

After hearing all of the chaos, everyone came rushing out and Harry alongside Stefan's Uncle came and grabbed Stefan, but it took another one of Stefan's cousins to pull him away. They dragged Stefan into the house whilst some stranger tended to Damon. I could tell Stefan was still seething with anger, so I hurried over and grabbed his hands and pulled him towards the stairs whilst telling Harry I would take care of him. When we entered his room, I led him over to his desk chair and pushed him down on it. I went to his bathroom and picked up a small towel and ran it under the tap, I returned to his room and saw him sat there with his head bowed down. Hooking my finger under his chin, I lifted his head up and began to dab the towel on his bust lip and then the cut just above his bruised eye. Considering the severity of the fight, Stefan came away from it pretty well, God knows what kind of state Damon is in.

"Do you have any cuts on your body from the glass?" I ask seriously and he just shakes his head sadly.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Lena. I just lost control, when I found out what he did to you" he says in a broken tone and he won't look me in the eye. I sigh and sit in his lap.

"Stefan you don't need to apologise. You were protecting me" I say and tilt his head up so his eyes meet mine.

"I feel awful, I totally ruined my Grandma's ball and I've also ruined the run up to the wedding, which I promised myself I wouldn't do" he says with sadness.

"Once we both explain to her what happened, she'll still be a little upset but more importantly she'll be happy you did what it took to protect me" I reassured him. "Although it wasn't the right time or place, what you did was justified. He provoked you and you snapped after years of pent up anger. Baby, I promise no one is going to judge you for what you did".

"You really think so?" he asked.

"Yes, and besides it was kinda sexy when you clenched your jaw and were protective over me" I say and try and lighten the mood as I run my fingers through his hair. This makes him smirk in return.

"Why is it that whenever I'm meant to be sad or angry, you're always able to take be back from the edge and make me smile?" he asks with so much sincerity it hurts.

"It's just one of my many talents" I tease and place a light kiss on his lips.

"Yeah and it's one of the many reasons why I love you" he says it so easily and fluently, and the genuine look in his eyes assures me that everything he just said is true. Oh my god, he loves me. Stefan Salvatore loves me. He realises what he just said and tries to back track. "Oh wait, I, um, I…"

I shut his stuttering up by crashing my lips to his and immediately he responds by kissing me just as eagerly.

"I love you too Stefan Salvatore" I say, and he grins with sheer pleasure all over his face. That's when I notice his bust lip again. "Shit sorry, that kiss must have hurt". He ignores me and pulls me in for another kiss.

"It's worth it" he says, and I giggle at how corny we are.

Exhausted by the events of the day, we get dressed for bed and hop in. Lying on my side, Stefan immediately wraps his arms around me and tangles our legs together, so that we're spooning.

He leans into my ear and whispers, "Goodnight Elena, I love you". Then he plants a soft kiss on the top of my head.

"I love you too Stefan" I whisper before falling asleep in his arms.

 **Author's note: So much drama! More importantly though Stelena have said that they love each other. I wanted to choose a real and sincere moment between the two for when they profess their love for each other, and as I was writing it, I realised that then was the perfect moment. I have had some lovely messages and reviews regarding my story since I posted the last chapter and I wanted to say thank you! Please feel free to review/continue reviewing my story because I really do love it when people do and it motivates me so much. Hope you enjoyed!**


	20. Chapter 20

{Elena's POV}

A few days since the ball have passed and things had returned back to normal. After explaining what happened to his Grandma, Stefan didn't get into any trouble over the fight with Damon, in fact Grace was furious with Damon and kicked him out. Ever since he left, Stefan returned to his calm and laid-back self.

Things with Stefan were still going perfectly, it was as if we were living some sort of dream. Despite confessing our love for each other, we still hadn't put a label on anything. I didn't know if I was glad or frustrated about it. I was glad that there was no pressure on us to do anything and that there were no expectations since we weren't amongst hundreds of judgemental college kids. However, I was frustrated because I guess part of me wanted him to ask me in a really romantic way and most importantly I wanted to be his girlfriend and I wanted him to be my boyfriend. This sounds so childish but it's true. I have no doubts about us being together, but I'm not going to say that I wouldn't love the security that being official brought. From what I know Stefan hasn't had a girlfriend in years, so maybe he's a little scared to ask? I know I'm overthinking this, but I can't help it. What girl in their right mind wouldn't want to be Stefan freaking Salvatore's girlfriend?

I can't help the smile that comes to my face as I watch him play tag with Beau and Taylor. It's almost laughable that even though he's over a decade older than them, he's not taking any mercy on them. Catching both of them at once, he throws them over each of his shoulders and they both burst into a fit of giggles as he swings them around.

"Uncle Stefan you're no fair" Beau twines as Stefan starts walking them over to the decking where I'm sitting.

"Well, if you wanted to play with someone slow then you should have asked Elena" Stefan teases and I smack his arm.

"One, I'm not slow. Two, you weren't this cocky when I beat you at mini golf" I replied with a smirk.

In response, Stefan rolls his eyes then lunges at me and shouts, "Tag". Then he runs off back onto the grass, still carrying Beau and Taylor. Not quite registering what just happened I remain in my chair, but when Stefan puts the kids down and then raises his eyebrows in challenge, I get up and chase them.

One of things Stefan doesn't know about me, is that back in high school I was also a track star, that won many sprints. I decide to humour them for a few minutes and pretend I'm slow. But when the three of them split in different directions, I chase after Stefan as fast as I can and catch him then run off. Stefan just stops and turns around in awe as if he can't believe I actually caught him. I just ignore him and run off laughing, but when his eyes narrow at me I know I'm in trouble. He sets off after me and when he's in a fully-fledged sprint, I realise why he's the wide receiver for the team. In a matter of seconds, he's behind me and tackling me gently to the ground. Laughing breathlessly, I look up at him and he's wearing his infamous smirk as he's pinning me to the ground.

"You just love the chase don't you" I tease, and he laughs at the double meaning.

"As long as it's you I'm chasing" he replies whilst biting his lip. Fuck, that's hot.

He leans down and kisses me, knocking all the air out of my lungs. Unable to resist, I kiss him back eagerly. But then we're interrupted.

"Ewwwwwwww" Beau and Taylor both exclaim, and Stefan detaches his lips from mine, making me whimper from the loss of contact. However, the kids' intervention didn't stop him from getting off me, oh no, he was still quite happily perched on my waist with his hands either side of my head.

"Uncle Stefan, you told me girls had cooties" Beau says sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. I laugh and raise my eyebrows questioningly at Stefan.

"Yeah, well I changed my mind" he sighs in response.

"Kids, it's time to come in for dinner" Grace shouts out the patio doors.

Beau and Taylor race each other back to the house, but Stefan doesn't move and keeps me trapped under him.

"Now, where were we?" he whispers leaning again. I roll my eyes and push him off, making him groan in frustration. I get up and stand over him, offering my hand to help him up. He takes my hand and I start dragging him back to the house.

"We can continue what we started later" I say turning around to face him, so I can watch his face light up like a Christmas tree.

After dinner, Stefan excused both of us and practically raced us to his bedroom because of the promise I made earlier. As soon as his door was closed, he pushed me against the wall and began attacking my neck with slow, sensual kisses. I moaned in delight when he hit my sweet spot, just under my ear. He scooped his hands under my ass and hoisted me up so that he could press his hips into mine more, I wound my legs around his hips and dug my heels into his back. Carrying me over to his bed, he threw me down and pounced on me, grinding his hips into mine. He crashed our lips together and it knocked me senseless. He invaded all of my senses and it was intoxicating. I ran my hands through his hair and began tugging on it, which made him growl playfully against my lips. Slipping my hands down, I tugged at the hem of his shirt and dragged it off. Running my hands down the smooth skin of his back, I felt his powerful muscles flex and ripple. I tore my lips away and looked down to admire his sculpted abs, I just laughed incredulously wondering when I got so lucky. Capturing his lips once again, I felt his hands slide under the thin material of my camisole and just when he was going to peel it off, my phone rang.

"Ignore it" Stefan mumbled continuing to kiss me. I decided to follow his orders since we were in the middle of something. However, it rang again, so I pushed on Stefan's chest and flipped us over, so I was straddling his waist. I reached over to get my phone and saw that it was Caroline, I hadn't spoken to her until school had ended since Nik whisked her on vacation straight away.

"Shit, it's Caroline, I've gotta answer this" I say breathlessly. Stefan just buries his head in his hands and groans. I press answer whilst still straddling Stefan.

"Hi Caroline" I say still a little breathless. Caroline being Caroline, picked up on it straight away.

"Erm, Elena Gilbert, who's got you all hot and bothered?" she asks with mischief in her voice.

"What? No one, I'm on a run, Caroline. That's why I didn't answer your first call. Anyway, how is your vacation going?" I say trying to cover up my tracks.

"Hmmm good job trying to change the subject. It's going amazing. We've seen so many sights and it's been so romantic, just taking walks along the beach and watching the sunset. Oh, and how can I forget, all of the incredible sex" Caroline babbled.

"Eww Caroline, seriously, to much information" I replied in disgust. Stefan must be able to hear Caroline on the other side of the phone because he grumbled something along the lines of 'at least someone's getting some'. I hit his arm and glared at him.

"Wait, I just heard something. Don't lie to me Elena. Who are you with?" Caroline asked sternly. She didn't know I had come to Texas with Stefan, it's not that I didn't want to tell her, it's because I knew if I did she would freak out and put pressure on us. But I couldn't lie and say I was at home with Stefan because Nik knew he was in Texas.

"I'm not lying Caroline, I'm just walking past the Grill" I try and respond as convincingly as possible.

"Whatever Elena, when I come home I'm going to find out who this mystery guy is. Good for you Elena, I'm glad you're getting some. Hope you have fun. Gotta go, byeeee" Caroline said and hung the phone before I could respond.

All the while Stefan was underneath me looking pretty pissed. I ran my hands down his chest and across his abs.

"Awww poor baby. Let me make it up to you" I whisper seductively and lean down to kiss his neck.

But before I get there, Stefan rolls me over and gets up off the bed. I look at him in sheer confusion and he just chuckles.

"Babe, you made me wait and now I'm going to return the favour" he said whilst winking and heading over to the bathroom.

I slumped back on the bed and cursed him under my breath. There's no way I'm going to let him win this one.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's note** : **Hi, sorry for not posting in a while. I've been away at a festival and have been busy with family and friends. I absolutely love this story and will certainly be continuing to write for it, however at the moment I am going to be focussing more attention to another story I have been dying to write. In the future, I will be aiming to update this story weekly/fortnightly depending on how busy I am, and I will aim to update the other story I'm working on a few times a week when possible. There is no way I am abandoning this story because I love it too much and would never just let it end suddenly. Anyway, this chapter features the long-awaited wedding. It seems to me that Stefan and Elena have been living in too much a bubble since getting to Texas, so we will have to see what challenges the future will hold. Hope you enjoy!**

{Stefan's POV}

Tomorrow is the day of the wedding, so people are running around everywhere making sure all the final preparations are done and ready to go. Everyone who is taking part in the wedding, like the groomsmen, bridesmaids, flower girls and ring boys and of the course the bride and groom are already heading to the country club tonight to sleep over in the hotel section to help ensure a flawless run in the morning. Being one of the groomsmen, at first, I was excited to be going to the country club to stay the night, but when I realised that didn't include Elena, I wasn't so eager to go. I tried begging my Grandma to let Elena come and stay in my room, but she said that was the least of her worries since she had taken it upon herself to organise the wedding. Reluctantly, I let it go because it would have been selfish of me to kick up a fuss about it given the circumstances. Come on Stefan, you can survive at least one night with Elena, can't you?

Everyone was sat around the table, just finishing dinner before most of us had to get ready to go. It felt good to be home, despite the altercation with Damon and the missing presence of my parents. That part of me that had been missing for God knows how long, feels like it's slowly but surely starting to heal, and I guess that's all down to Elena. Normally, I would just run away from reality and emotions, in fact if Elena hadn't come with me, I'm not sure I would have even made it outside of Whitmore, never mind all the way to Texas to face my family. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my Grandma's voice.

"Right, now that everyone seems to have finished their food, I think it's about time everyone heading to the country club should be collecting the last of their luggage and heading off" Grandma announced.

Most of the people around the table nodded in agreement and started to go get their stuff, me included as I climbed the stairs to go get my bags. Whilst packing my last few items, I heard a light knock at the door and as I turned around I saw Elena standing there with a half-smile her face. Instead of returning her smile, I just pouted with half fake, half serious sadness.

"Awwww does my poor baby not wanna leave me?" Elena asked whilst crossing the room and wrapping her arms around my neck. I just wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her neck, whilst mumbling 'nope'. "Come on Stef, it's only one night. You'll see me in the morning" she tried to reassure.

"Yeah, but when I'm in bed, who's going to be my little spoon to cuddle? The hotel pillows aren't going to have anything on you" I whined like a little boy making Elena laugh.

"How do you think I feel? I'm not going to be able to sleep with out your big warm arms protecting me" Elena replied mimicking my whiny voice.

"Hmmm, how about this?" I asked whilst taking my hoodie off and putting it on her. "It's warm and it smells like me, so there you go".

"I guess it's a little better but it's not the real thing. I'm going to miss you" she whispered just centimetres from my lips.

"I'm gonna miss you too" I whisper back and lean into her lips. Her soft lips welcome mine in a slow emotion filled kiss, like always our desires grow and our make out session becomes more heated. Just as I'm about to press her into the mattress, we're interrupted by someone clearing their throat. I groan and shoot a glare at the door.

"Dude, will you stop kissing your girlfriend and get your ass out the door. I'm getting married tomorrow and I need you to get in my car, so we can go to the hotel" Harry said amused.

"Fine" I mutter through gritted teeth. Harry just grinned and turned around to leave. "Babe, I gotta go".

"Okay, see you soon" Elena replied and let go of me. I planted a soft kiss on her forehead and grabbed my bags walking out the door.

Walking down the stairs, I realised how shitty that goodbye was and even though it's cheesy, I had to go back. I barrelled back up the stairs and burst through my bedroom door.

"I forgot something" I blurted out.

"Wha…" Elena tried to ask but I cut her off with my lips. I kissed her with everything I had, knocking her breathless. When I heard her silent moan and felt my lungs starting to burn due to lack of oxygen, I pulled away and pressed my forehead against hers. She just laughed breathlessly when I pecked her on the lips and started walking to leave.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

After a few hours of getting ready, me, the other groomsmen and the bridesmaids were setting up along the sides of the altar before the guests arrived. All of the groomsmen were wearing dark grey suits with black shoes and a white flower in our suit jacket pocket. The bridesmaids looked beautiful in their violet floor length dresses. Harry came walking down the aisle to prepare himself at the altar, it was weird, I couldn't believe one of my cousins that I grew up with was getting married. I walked up to him and gave him a man hug.

"You look great man. How you holding up?" I ask.

"Thanks Stefan. I'm good. I don't get this whole thing about getting cold feet, you know? When I look at Amara, I have no doubt that she's the person I want to spend the rest of my life with" he said with a smile on his face. I just nodded with a smile in response.

"I'm happy for you. Good luck" I say giving him another hug.

Minutes later, the guests came flooding in and taking their seats. I couldn't stop myself from scanning the crowd to find Elena. Then I saw her walking in with my Grandma. I didn't think it was possible for someone to look more and more beautiful. She was wearing a pastel pink dress that had had white flowers on it and a pair of navy flats that complimented her tanned legs. Her hair was wavy and her make up was natural, which made me glad because she didn't need make up to look gorgeous. She looked over and blushed a little and smiled when she caught me staring at her, I smiled back at her.

All of the guests took their seats and quieted down, to allow the ceremony to start. The small orchestra they had hired started playing 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri and then Beau and Taylor and some other kids started spreading flower petals across the aisle as Amara followed them. She looked stunning in her lace white dress and veil. It made me wonder, what it would be like if I was in Harry's position and it was Elena walking up the aisle. Woah, Stefan calm it. I mean yeah, I love Elena, but thinking about marriage is way too over the top. I know Elena is going to be a part of my future, but I don't feel any need to rush things. The next step for us will obviously be me asking her to be my girlfriend, but I don't know when to do it. I want it to be somewhat romantic and I want it to be soon, that's for sure.

The service isn't lasting too long, they didn't want to rush it, but they didn't want to make it drag, so they're already at the 'I do's'.

"Do you Harry Salvatore take Amara Bevington to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do".

"And do you Amara Bevington take Harry Salvatore to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do".

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. Harry you may now kiss your bride" the marriage officiant said with a smile on his face.

Harry leaned in and kissed Amara causing everyone to erupt into applause and cheers. The orchestra started playing once again as they walked down the aisle hand in hand.

Everyone taking part in the wedding had to gather again to have our photos taken, whilst the remainder of the guests went to the function room until some were called for photos. I had my photo taken with Harry and Amara, Harry and all the groomsmen, all the groomsmen and bridesmaids, Beau and Taylor and then everyone in the wedding got one together. The photographers followed us inside to the function room, so they could take photos of the other guests after we had food.

Spotting Elena at the bar, I started weaving my way through the crowd of the guests. When I got up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist suddenly to catch her off guard, she gasped, and I knew I had achieved my goal. I planted a soft kiss on her neck.

"Hey you" I said as she turned around in my arms.

"Hey you" she responded with a smile and kissed me on the lips. "How did you sleep?"

"It was awful, I hardly slept at all without you" I said sounding like a total sap, but it was true.

"Really? I slept amazingly, it was so nice to just go one night without some guy slinging his heavy arms around me" she said teasingly. I squeezed her sides making her squeal in response.

Some of the waiters and waitresses came out and motioned for everyone to sit down and get ready for food, so I grabbed Elena's hand intertwined our fingers before walking across the room to the table where we were seated. We were sat down on a table with my grandparents and some of my aunts, uncles and cousins. The table fell into light conversation about how amazing the ceremony was. Then I remembered I hadn't told Elena something.

"You look beautiful by the way" I leaned into Elena's ear and whispered. I backed away a little to give her room to turn and face me. Our lips were no more than an inch away.

"Thanks, you look beautiful too" she replied. I have no idea why, but her comment made me blush, she just raised her eyebrows at me and I laughed shyly. She leaned in and pecked my lips, then returned to the conversation. I turned back to the conversation too and found my Grandma smiling at me, I returned her smile.

After eating our delicious food, the DJ prepared on stage and introduced himself and announced that it was time for the first dance. 'All of me' by John Legend started playing as Harry led Amara to the dancefloor. Their first dance was over, and the DJ started playing feel good party anthems that are probably played at every wedding in the world. Instead of following the crowd to the dancefloor, I headed back to my seat. Don't get me wrong I'll have an occasional dance but it doesn't mean I love to do it.

"Hey, come dance with me" Elena said as she approached me.

"I don't really like dancing. I'm sure Taylor or someone will dance with you" I replied, and she looked at me funny.

"Nice try but you danced with me at the masquerade ball" she said pulling on my tie.

"Well, that was a slow song. If you're expecting me to get my party moves out, you're gonna have to get me drunk" I tell her, and she rolls her eyes.

Instead of replying, she walks over to the bar and comes back with four shots. She sits on my lap.

"Fine, two shots of tequila each" she said matter of factly. Rather than arguing I just smirked at her challenge and knocked my shots down.

A few drinks later, Elena was still happily perched on my lap with her arms around me as we swayed a little to the music. All of a sudden Elena leapt of my lap, and then I realised it was because Maroon 5 one of her favourite bands was playing.

"Come on Stefan, please, please, please, it's 'Sugar' by Maroon 5 you know how much I love this song" she begged giving me her puppy dog eyes. Even though I wasn't drunk, I couldn't resist, so I just got up and pulled her to the dancefloor.

I span her around a few times and then pulled her close to me. We started dancing to the beat of the song and she raised her eyebrows at me.

"Wow, you really have got some moves" she said in surprise.

"Told ya" I responded cockily.

I then grabbed her and dipped her, which made her giggle, but I silenced her with a kiss.

We continued dancing for the next few songs and had people coming up to us telling us how great we were together. One of my aunts even asked when I was going to pop the question, I just laughed in response and said that I'd maybe do it further in the future. 'The Way You Look Tonight' by Frank Sinatra started playing and I pulled Elena even closer to me, we both had one arm wrapped around each other as our other hands were intertwined. Her head was on my chest and I ducked my head down so that my nose was grazing her temple. It was like everything was frozen in time and it was just me and Elena in our own perfect world. I can't remember the last time I was this happy and at peace with the world. It didn't matter that a few days ago I had tried to knock my brother out, it didn't matter that I'd been heartbroken in the past and it didn't matter that Elena once hated me. All that mattered is that I had Elena, and I wanted to have her for as long as possible and that meant taking the next step. After my parents died, Damon was given my father's ring and I was given my mother's necklace as a reminder that they would always be with us. To this day, I carry that necklace with me wherever I go. When I was younger, I adored both of my parents, but everyone knew I was a momma's boy. I remember asking my mom about what love is and she replied with…

 _"_ _Love can be many things, Stefan. But true love is where you love someone so much that you can't imagine your life without them and you would do whatever it takes to keep them in your life. It's about making them happy no matter what, because that in turn will make you happy. It's being able to put someone else's needs before your own simply because you love them. When you find that Stefan, you should never let it go"._

Remembering that moment in time made me smile, I realised that Elena was the person that I shouldn't let go. I didn't care if it was too soon, in my opinion I had waited long enough. I pulled away from Elena just enough to look at her and she looked at me with slight confusion.

"Elena I've got something I want to say" I say nervously and concern washes over her face. "Don't worry, it's a good thing. Well I think it is anyway. Elena, I know things between us have sort of been fast and a bit of a whirlwind since we arrived here. But I got everything I wanted, which is you. I guess part of me knew that if I asked you to come here, then maybe we could happen. Obviously, it worked because we're here now, like this. God, I'm babbling. Anyway, what I'm saying is that I love you Elena and when I envision my future I see you in it". I reach into my pocket and pull out my mother's necklace and show it to her. "Elena, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Oh my god, Stefan. You didn't have to" she said motioning to the necklace.

"No, it's something I've had forever, and I've never wanted to give it to someone until now" I say back shyly. She grabbed my face with both hands and caressed my face.

"I love you Stefan Salvatore, of course I'll be your girlfriend. The necklace, it's beautiful" she said and leaned up to kiss me. She then turned around, so I could put the necklace on.

"Looks perfect" I whispered in her ear.

Once again, she lifted her hands to caress my face, she leaned in and placed a firm but affectionate kiss.

"Stefan, take me upstairs" Elena breathed out against my lips.

Before I knew it, we were stumbling through my hotel room door and grabbing at clothing. I kicked the door shut and Elena immediately pushed my jacket off and was frustratedly trying to work on my tie.

"Hey Elena, slow down baby. I want to do this right" I say tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. In response, she nodded and laughed nervously.

Slowly, I leaned in to capture her lips with mine and she responded passionately. With one hand on her cheek and the other on her neck, I pulled her closer so that our chests were pressed together. Her hands rubbed up and down my chest and slid to my tie again, this time I helped her take it off. She began working on the buttons of my shirt and pushed it off my shoulders, then she started kissing along my collar bone and chest whilst running her hands up and down my abs. Reaching out, I grabbed her hips and pushed a little, so that she would turn around. I brushed her hair over one shoulder and then grabbed the zipper and pulled it down the length of her back. As my fingers lingered on the skin of her back, I felt her shiver. Pulling the top of her dress down her arms, I leaned in and pressed kisses on the back of her neck and down her shoulder blades. We both kicked our shoes off as she turned to face me. Looking into her eyes, all I could see was love and adoration, which told me to carry on. I leaned in to kiss her again, she unbuckled my belt as I pushed her dress the rest of the way down. I stepped out of my pants as she stepped out of her dress, it was as if we just pressed pause for a moment as we looked at each other. The way her matching white lace panties and bra contrasted her tanned, olive skin was almost too much. Meeting each other's gaze again, our lips met in the middle as my hands grazed the skin of her back and unhooked her bra. I tore my lips away from hers and began my mission down her jaw, neck and then to her chest. Our heavy breathing filled the room, and when my lips lazily locked around one of her pert nipples, Elena elicited a moan and wound her fingers tightly in my hair. Lifting her in my arms, I carried her over to the bed whilst keeping my lips fixated on her breasts. Her legs tightened around my waist as we flopped down on the bed. My lips trailed from her chest down to the waistband of her panties, when I got there I placed a kiss on her most sensitive spot, I could feel how ready she was for me and it made my already throbbing length grow harder. She tugged on my hair, bringing my head back in line with hers, so she could kiss me.

"Is this okay?" I asked just to be sure.

"This is more than okay" she replied breathlessly, giving me the green light.

Kneeling up, I grabbed her panties and slipped them off her legs and, on the way, back down I left a trail of kisses down her leg, making her moan more. She adjusted her legs around my waist so that her feet were at my hips and kicking my boxers down. This was it. I kissed Elena on the lips when I slowly slid my length into her. I intertwined our hands either side of her head. Our lips detached as we both moaned, and I started a slow and steady rhythm. Elena's hands gripped and scratched at my back as I rocked into her. God, she was so tight. It was like I was in heaven.

"I love you so much. You're beautiful" I whispered in her ear as we made love.

"I love you too" Elena managed to get out.

Burying my face in her neck, I could hear Elena's panting and moaning in my ear and I could tell I was getting close, so I started to thrust a little faster and harder. From the sounds she was making, Elena didn't mind at all and was clearly close herself.

"Oh god Stefan. Don't stop" she moaned loudly.

She didn't have to tell me, I wasn't stopping for anyone. Her walls tightened around me and I continued thrusting into her as she rode out her orgasm. I looked down at her face, her hair was sticking to her face, her eyes were screwed shut and her mouth was in the shape of an 'o'. One more push and I was gone, I came apart and as I went through my orgasm, Elena stroked up and down my back. I rolled of off her and pulled her to my side instantly, so that she was half lying on top of me.

"That was amazing" I whispered into the air.

"You're telling me" she responded just as breathless as myself. "So, that was sex with Stefan Salvatore, huh?"

I shook my head no and she looked at me confused. "That was making love with Stefan Salvatore, I'll show you sex some other time" I teased with a wink.

"I can't wait. I love you" she said and pressed a kiss to my chest.

"I love you too. Goodnight" I responded.

We fell asleep in each other's arms, and I knew that I had everything I ever needed.


	22. Chapter 22

{Stefan's POV}

After an amazing couple of weeks in Texas, it was time for me and Elena to head back to college. Part of me is sad to be leaving, especially since things were going perfect with Elena here, but then the other side of me is excited for me and Elena to go back to college as a couple. We can't stay in our little bubble forever, so going back to Whitmore has to happen. I already know that I'll never forget the past two weeks we've spent here, I've got to spend time with my family and be with the person I love.

Loading my truck with our bags, it was time for me and Elena to say goodbye to everyone. She wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her head in my chest.

"I don't want to leave" she mumbled incoherently into my shirt, which made me chuckle.

"Come on babe. We have to go back at some point" I replied whilst running my hands up and down her back.

She pulled her head away from my chest and looked up at me and pouted, so I leaned down and kissed her pout away.

{Elena's POV}

Today's the day we're heading back to college, and honestly if it were up to me, I'd just stay here with Stefan forever. But unfortunately, it's not, and now we're heading inside to say goodbye to his family. I say goodbye to everyone, and then come to his Grandma, Grace, last. She pulls me into a tight hug straight away.

"Promise me you'll look after yourself and him. He needs someone like you in his life, Elena" she whispers in my ear.

"I promise" I whisper back, and she hugs me tighter.

We both pull away and I let her go over and say goodbye to Stefan. They wrap each other in a hug, and I can't help but smile. I can see her saying something in his hear and him nodding. After pulling away from the hug, Stefan walks over to me and grabs my hand. As we head over to the car, Grace starts shouting instructions at us.

"You two keep in touch and don't forget to come back for Thanksgiving. Stefan don't be an idiot and Elena make sure you tell him if he is. Drive safe. I love you" she shouts from the front door.

In response, Stefan smiled and waved, then opened the car door for me to get in. As we drove away, his whole family had come out to the front of the house to wave us off. Tears rolled my down my cheeks as I tried to smile and wave back. A few minutes on the road in silence had passed, so Stefan reached across the seats, grabbed my hand and spoke up.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just over the two weeks that place really started to feel like home, you know?" I responded.

"Yeah I do. But, just think about how great things are gonna be when we get back to college. It's just going to be and you, in it together in our place" he said and then placed a few light kisses on my knuckles.

"Oh yeah? And why is that going to be so great?" I asked slightly teasingly.

"Because I am going to have you all to myself" he playfully growled, which made me laugh.

"When we go back, what are we going to do? I mean like are we going to tell everyone about us or just keep things between the two of us for now."

"It's up to you. I guess I really never thought about it before" he replied.

"Well for now, I think that we should keep things between the two of us and just save the drama for another day and enjoy the rest of our summer. Plus, it could be kinda fun sneaking around" I say the last part seductively.

Stefan shifted in his seat and cleared his throat, my words clearly having the desired effect.

"Huh, is that so Gilbert?" he asked.

I just hummed in response and watched as his lips turned up into a smirk.

XXXXXXXXXX

Thankfully we avoided traffic and managed to get home in a matter of hours. Pushing the door open, Stefan walked into our apartment with our bags and I followed. He threw our bags on the couch and sighed.

"Home sweet home" he said contently.

"So, now that we're home and you've got me all to yourself. What are you going to do with me?" I asked teasingly, raising my eyebrows.

Stefan bit his lip at my words and his eyes darkened with lust.

"This" was all he replied with when he started stalking over to me.

Before I knew it, he had crashed his lips against mine in a blazing kiss. Immediately, I responded with eagerness. He pinned me against the closest wall, pressing our bodies together with no space in between. I was desperate for more friction, so I jumped up, and luckily for me, Stefan understood what I wanted when he wrapped my legs around his waist. Uncontrollably, I let out a hot breathy moan as he pressed his hips harder into mine. My fingers were clutching his hair and pushing his face to mine, so that there was no way he could detach his lips from mine. Then suddenly we were moving again, he sat me on top of the kitchen island and went to work on my neck with his talented lips. Sucking, nipping and licking, I couldn't get enough of what he was doing to me. I felt drunk off of him, like he was my fix that I could never get tired off. He pulled away from me and as our heavy breathing filled the air, he tore my shirt off of me. Initially I was shocked, but then his lips were back on mine and I had no time to think about what he had just done. Our tongues duelled in a fierce battle, but with his experience and dominance, Stefan won. Not that it bothered me anyway, because all I wanted to do now was rip his clothes off of him. Grabbing the hem of his t-shirt, I didn't bother trying to tear it off of him like he did to me, I wasn't strong enough, so I just tugged it over his head. I didn't give him the chance to continue his administrations because I wanted control, so I hopped off the island and tugged his arm over to his bed. When we got there, I pushed him down on it and climbed on top, sitting astride him. Instinctively, his hands flew to my hips as I bent down and started giving him the treatment he gave me, nipping, sucking and licking down his neck and across his chest. He took this as the opportune to undo the clasp of my bra. After doing so, he sat up trying to take control again, but I wasn't done, so I planted my hands firmly on his chest and pushed him down. He was about to protest but was silenced when I started trailing my tongue down the line of his abs, stopping at his waistband and then trailing my tongue across that too. That's when he lost it. He let out a guttural moan and then flipped us over, so that he could assume the dominant position. Frantically, he left hot kisses on my chest and then started sucking on one of my pert nipples whilst massaging the other.

"Fuck Stefan" I moaned loudly whilst tugging on my hair.

Clearly amused by my arousal, I felt Stefan smirk against my chest. He then continued his assault downwards, planting kisses down my stomach until reaching the waistband of my jeans. Kneeling up, he began tugging my jeans and panties down my legs. For a moment or probably longer, I was that far gone I had no concept of time, he just kneeled there and raked his eyes over my body. I couldn't help but blush and look away. Leaning back down and grabbing my chin, he tilted my face so that it was in line with his.

"You don't need to feel embarrassed and hide from me. You're absolutely beautiful" he said and placed a light kiss on my lips.

Why did he have to be so perfect? It's like he knows every part of me. He knows exactly what I need and when I need it. Leaving my lips once again, his lips started moving down my body, and I wonder where he's going with this since he's already got me fully naked.

"Stefan, where are you going?" I asked breathlessly.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, and I nodded without having to think twice.

Returning his lips to my body, he kissed my inner thigh and I suddenly realised what he's doing. I've only been with two guys other than Stefan, and neither of them had ever given me this. Neither of them are coming close to the way Stefan is making me feel right know. He makes me feel like my skin is on fire, like I'm going to explode. He makes me turn irrational, even so that if I was to die right know I wouldn't even care because it would be the best way to go out, which is dangerous I know, but I don't care. I stop thinking when he drags his tongue across my centre. My head flies back as my back arches upwards and I let out a moan, which probably came out more like a scream. Lapping his tongue up and down, up and down, he's sending me over the edge. His hands clamp down on my hips pinning them on the bed to stop loss of contact as I thrash beneath him. I'm starting to come undone. Everything is intensified when he adds his thumb and starts rubbing it against my clit.

"Ahh fuck Stefan. Don't stop. Please don't stop" I scream, even though I know his intentions are never going to be to stop.

Then one more flick of his tongue is all it takes, and I'm gone. I let out an earth-shattering moan and flop down on the bed as he continues soothing my centre with his tongue, riding me through my orgasm. He climbs up my body, hovering his head above mine. I can't see him because my eyes are screwed shut, but I can sense him. After feeling him slip his tongue back into my mouth, I open my eyes and let him devour me all over again. I run my hands down his abs and start to unzip his jeans, pushing them and his boxers down his legs with my feet. Just because I'd had my orgasm, didn't mean things were slowing down. In a matter of seconds, he had me hot and ready to go again. I lifted my legs and wrapped them around his waist, urging him onwards. He took the hint and pushed himself slowly into me. When he was all the way in, we both let out frustrated groans and deep breaths. Holy shit, he was so big. This wasn't like anything I was used to before. He paused for a second letting me adjust to his size. I angled my hips slightly, letting him know I was ready. He didn't need to be told twice. All at once he began rocking into me at a devilishly fast pace. This right here wasn't going to be slow and sweet love making like last night, this was going to be plain and simple fucking, and I was loving every second. I didn't think it was possible, but every thrust got faster and deeper and faster and deeper. It's like I'm in heaven. It was like nothing else, but Stefan existed and that's all I needed. Once again, his lips began attacking my neck, expertly sucking at my pulse points. My hands ran down his back and felt his taut muscles ripple and flex. I panted his name into his ear and told him I was close. All it took was a few more thrusts and I came even harder than I did before. It didn't take Stefan long to follow, and shortly after he came as well, burying his face into my neck. After a few minutes of catching our breaths and pulling ourselves together, Stefan rolled off of me and pulled me to his side, my head landing on his chest. He pulled the crumpled sheet over our bodies. I pushed my weight onto my elbow, lifting my head so that it was hovering above his. He had this arrogant little satisfied smirk on his face, that once probably would have pissed me off, but now I couldn't help returning it. Oh God, what was he doing to me?

"So, THAT was sex with Stefan Salvatore?" I asked, repeating my words from the night before, but putting more emphasis on them.

"Uh huh and don't you forget it" he teased back.

"Oh, trust me, I don't think I'll be forgetting about this anytime soon" I retorted making him chuckle.

"Neither will I. I gotta say Gilbert you were amazing, and that mouth of yours is surprisingly dirty. I love it" he teased and squeezed my ass.

"You haven't seen anything yet" I said, and Stefan's eyebrows raised. I got up slightly, throwing my leg over his side, so that I was straddling him. At first, he was a little surprised, but then it faded away and his smirk returned. "I think it's time for round two."


End file.
